Muesli

Spelled Müsli in German and, especially in Switzerland, Müesli, the main ingredient for this popular breakfast cereal is uncooked rolled oats. A variety of dried or fresh fruit can be added as well as nuts, honey, spices or even chocolate. Muesli is usually served with milk or yoghurt. Depending on the ingredients, muesli can make a healthy high-energy breakfast.

Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner is considered the inventor of the muesli. In the year 1900 he created a cereal with grated apple, lemon juice, milk and nuts to be eaten daily as a protection from illnesses of all kinds. It was produced exclusively in his hospital but the recipe was never licensed and so the idea spread quickly. Muesli has since become synonymous with a healthy lifestyle and balanced nutrition. The Bircher-Benner hospital, however, was shut down in 1993 for economical reasons.

Today producers all over the world sell a wide variety of pre-packaged muesli (see, for example, Ovomaltine) although some consumers still prefer to mix their muesli themselves from fresh ingredients and to their own individual taste.

Sample recipe:

• rolled oats
• banana
• apple
• raisins
• cinnamon
• milk