Birchermüesli – Frühstück aus der Schweiz

Birchermüesli – breakfast from Switzerland, a classic muesli with delicious fruits and berries; here in Switzerland, it is not only served for breakfast.

The original Birchermuesli was developed before 1900 by Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, a doctor and nutrition reformer from Aargau. In 1897, during a study visit to Dresden, he presented his raw apple dish to Heinrich Lahmann, a doctor of medicine, who, convinced of its benefits, introduced this muesli into the kitchen of the Lahmann Sanatorium. Bircher-Benner, in turn, took many more ideas back with him to Switzerland.

The founder of the “Lebendige Kraft” sanatorium on the Zürichberg eventually named his creation Apfeldiätspeise, or simply d Spys (Swiss German for “the dish”). From 1902 onwards, he tried to introduce the guests at his Zurich sanatorium to a wholefood diet with fresh fruit in this way – and he succeeded. Birchermus was served as a light, easily digestible evening meal.

Bircher-Benner is considered a pioneer of wholefood nutrition. He was originally convinced that unprocessed raw plant-based foods, such as those used in muesli, contained “biologically active light quanta” from which the body could derive “vitality” – a hypothesis that later proved to be false. As an advocate of a vegetarian raw food diet, Bircher-Benner considered freshly grated apples with their peel and core to be the most important ingredient, rather than cereal flakes. He used condensed milk because fresh milk, which was unpasteurized at the time, posed a high risk of tuberculosis. In the meantime, the manufacturing process for oat flakes has also improved. The fine flakes available today only need to be soaked briefly. (from Wikipedia)

This recipe, which can also be served as a light meal for lunch or dinner, takes part in the culinary World travel of Volkermampft, who is collecting breakfasts from around the world this September. For my Bircher muesli, I’m traveling to Switzerland.