The first muesli, and the one that’s mostly apple. Raw oats soak overnight, and in the morning a whole apple is grated straight into them, with lemon to keep it from browning. It’s cold, wet, and fresh.
Picks
Creamy, tart, and fresh, with a little sweetness.
- Choosing the grains: Rolled oats only
- Toasting or soaking: Soaked overnight
- Fruit, nuts, and seeds: A whole grated apple, skin and all, and a spoonful of chopped walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts
- Milk, yogurt, or juice: Water or milk for the soak, then lemon juice and a spoonful of cream and honey (or sweetened condensed milk) in the morning
Where it comes from
Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner created it around 1900 for the patients at his sanatorium in Zürich, where fresh fruit and vegetables were the centre of the treatment (Wikipedia). It wasn’t a breakfast cereal. He served it before meals, and called it simply “the dish.” His recipe was 1 tablespoon of oats soaked for 12 hours in 3 tablespoons of water, then one large apple (or two or three small ones), grated whole, core and all, with the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of nuts, and a tablespoon of cream and honey or condensed milk.
| Constraint | Pick it explains |
|---|---|
| A diet built on raw fruit | More apple than oats |
| Raw oats, no cooking | The long soak |
| Grated apple browns fast | Lemon juice, and grating it straight into the bowl |
Why these picks
- Soaked oats. Twelve hours in liquid softens raw oats as much as cooking would, without heat.
- Grated apple. It’s the body of the dish, not a topping. Grated, it becomes part of the texture.
- Lemon. It stops the apple browning and keeps the whole bowl bright.
How it fails
- Gluey: too little liquid, or quick oats. Use rolled oats and loosen it with milk in the morning.
- Brown and flat: the apple was grated ahead, or the lemon was left out.
Variations
- Overnight oats: the modern version, sold as “overnight oats” since the 2010s. More oats, less apple, often soaked in yogurt and milk with berries on top.
- Cruise-ship Bircher: the Holland America Line breakfast muesli is the Swiss style, soaked and loose, closer to a porridge than a cereal.
- Café Bircher: apple or orange juice for the soak in place of lemon, with berries, pear, or vanilla.