Last Wednesday’s article on Bircher muesli caused several readers to ask me if there was a connection between it and another breakfast food: Granola.
The answer is not a direct one, but there are similarities in the main ingredient used and with the occupations and philosophies of the persons who first developed these foods.
In last week’s column I noted Swiss nutritionist Dr. Bircher-Benner invented muesli in the late 1800s at a sanatorium in Zurich. He believed eating more raw foods, such as his muesli, could help heal people. To make it, oats were soaked in water until softened and edible, before being bolstered with condensed milk, lemon juice, grated apple and nuts.
This style of muesli is still enjoyed today, but is now often called Bircher muesli, or overnights oats. These days those oats are also soaked in flavoured liquids, not just water, and accented with a range of other flavourings.
Connecticut-born Sylvester Graham started the ball rolling in the early 1800s. This Presbyterian minister was an ardent dietary reformer, best known for his emphasis on vegetarianism. Graham, among many other things, preached that people should avoid meat, alcohol and white bread.As I wrote in a past column on granola, folks who also believed in healthy eating get credit for inventing it, but they lived in the United States, not Europe.
If they wanted bread, he said they should make it with whole grain wheat flour. He was so good at doing that, people started calling that type of flour Graham flour. That flour was used in other products that were also named after him, such as Graham crackers.
In 1863, spa and healthy eating promoter Dr. James C. Jackson used Graham flour to create a product he called “granula.”
To make it, Graham flour was formed into sheets and baked. Those sheets were then broken into pieces, baked again and then broken into smaller, spoon-sized pieces.
In the 1870s, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, whose brother would later start a cereal company, came up with his own version of it. At that time Kellogg worked at a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he experimented with making healthful foods. One of his creations was a baked and ground, whole-grain breakfast he also call granula.
Calling it that angered Jackson; he sued and, to avoid a legal battle, Kellogg changed the “u” to an “o” and called his creation granola. Whether called granula or granola, though, back then this breakfast food was not enjoyed by the masses.
That did not occur until someone else, Charles W. Post, who was once a patient at that Battle Creek sanatorium, opened his own health retreat. There he reworked Jackson’s granula recipe and came up with a product he called Grape Nuts.
Post must have been a master marketer, because despite his Grape Nuts containing no grapes or nuts, it became a commercial success and is still so today.
One would think Post’s creation would see granola fade into history, but the 1960s hippie movement and its healthy eating vibe stirred it back to life. Today, granola is enjoyed by millions and is sold at every supermarket.
Like Bircher muesli, these days, granola is most often oat-based. But rather than soaking that grain, the oats are toasted and blended with other ingredients, such as dried fruit, seeds and nuts.
Although, as noted, you can readily buy granola, I prefer to make my own. It’s easy to do and you have control over what ingredients are used. Today’s version uses a combination of rolled oats and steel-cut oats.
Two-Oat Granola with Honey and Spice
The nicely spiced, honey-sweetened version of granola, made with rolled oats and steel-cut oats, is rich with a deluxe mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes: About 10 cups
2 cups steel-cut oats
2 cups large-flake rolled oats
3/4 cup whole, skin almonds, left whole or coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened, large coconut flakes
1/2 cup raw, hulled, unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw, hulled, unsalted sunflower seeds
1/3 cup hemp seeds (see Note)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2/3 cup honey, or to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin coconut oil (see Note)
10 thin strips dried mango, cut, widthwise, into thin strips (see Note)
2/3 cup dried cranberries or raisins
2/3 cup dried blueberries or cherries
Preheat the oven to 325 F (use regular heat, not convection). Line a large, 11-inch x 17-inch) sided baking pan with parchment paper (see Eric’s options). Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl.
Place the honey and oil in a small pot and set over medium heat. When just warm (not hot), pour over the oat mixture. Mix well, and then spread the oat mixture on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are lightly toasted.
Remove pan from the oven. Stir the mango, cranberries (or raisins) and blueberries (or cherries) into the oat mixture, and then cool the granola to room temperature.
When cooled, break up any pieces of granola that have clumped together. Spoon the granola into an airtight container. Store at cool room temperature for up to three weeks.
Note: Hemp seeds are sold in bags at some supermarkets and health foods stores. One (56 gram) bag yielded the amount needed for this recipe. Extra virgin coconut oil is sold in bottles at most supermarkets. It’s solid when at room temperature, but quickly melts when heated for this recipe. Dried mango slices are sold in the bulk food section of some supermarkets and at bulk food stores.
Eric’s options: If desired, an equal amount of vegetable oil could replace the coconut oil called for in this recipe. If you can’t find dried mango, use 10 dried apricots, thinly sliced, instead. If you don’t have a large baking pan, divide the granola among smaller baking pans and bake them separately.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His latest is The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Appetite by Random House). His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
