Name: Birchermuesli (home recipe)
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 12 h
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Swiss
Ingredients: 100g rolled oats; 200ml whole milk or natural yoghurt; 1 large apple, unpeeled; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 2 tablespoons hazelnuts, roughly chopped; 1 tablespoon honey; Pinch of salt

History

Birchermuesli was developed by Maximilian Bircher-Benner, the Zurich physician who ran a Zurichberg sanatorium called Lebendige Kraft from 1904. He developed the recipe through nutritional experiments between roughly 1895 and 1900 and prescribed it as a raw, vitamin-rich morning meal to patients, modelled on a shepherd's breakfast he saw in the Swiss Alps. The original recipe used grated apple as the primary ingredient and oats only as a supplement, the modern proportions are roughly inverted. Haus Hiltl, opened 1898 down the hill, has served it ever since and is closest to the founding recipe.

Common allergens: Gluten, Milk, Nuts

Make it at home

Yield 2Hands-on 10 minTotal 12 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

100g rolled oats
200ml whole milk or natural yoghurt
1 large apple, unpeeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon honey
Pinch of salt

Method

The night before, combine oats and milk or yoghurt in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, grate the apple coarsely on a box grater (skin and all, core only discarded).
Toss the apple with lemon juice to keep it from browning.
Stir the apple, hazelnuts, honey and a pinch of salt through the soaked oats.
Serve immediately while the apple is still crisp.

Tip from the editors. Use a tart apple (Granny Smith or Boskoop), not a soft eating apple, the texture matters.