Allos Hof Granola
Many people start their day with a bowl of muesli. The combination of oatmeal and fruit is regarded as an absolute breakfast classic. However, muesli, as we know it today, has not been on the market for too long. It was only in the late 1960s that muesli became established as a breakfast. The predecessor of muesli, porridge, can already look back on a history of a couple of centuries. In contrast to muesli the oatmeal in porridge is cooked. Once it has reached a creamy consistency, it can be refined with honey or sugar. In the UK, porridge still is very widespread even today. In Scotland it is also flavoured with salt. Even in ancient times the first meal of the day for many people was a bowl of porridge. This is no surprise, since there would have been none of the great ancient cultures without cereals.
As long as people were moving from place to place as nomads, they had to live from what they found. Only the cultivation of land enabled our ancestors to settle down in one place. When they had grown enough cereals, they were able to put them into storage and thus also had enough food in the winter. Due to the improved food supply, the population grew and cities emerged. The first metropolitans were Sumerians, people from southern Mesopotamia. They already knew how to water their farmland artificially 3,000 years BC. Even at that time they could not grow all grain needed in the immediate vicinity and had to rely on supplies from other parts of the country. Over millennia this principle was unchanged. Whereas in some parts of the country metropolises emerged, cereals were grown in the rural regions. Especially the poorer part of the population was dependent on grain. In times of the industrialization large cities developed into metropolitan areas. In order to make longer storage periods possible, the seedlings and the outer layers of the grains were removed. The efficient processing had another advantage: white flour could now be produced much cheaper. Because of its expensive and elaborate production it had been reserved for the rich and powerful for a long time. Because ordinary citizens and craftsmen preferred white flour, the consumption of whole grains decreased heavily.
In the early years of the 20th century, a young doctor named Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner was intensively concerned with diet and diseases of civilization. He tried to convince the patients of his sanatorium to eat a more balanced diet. For this purpose he created a meal from soaked oatmeal with apples, nuts, lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk. This ”muesli“ was served for dinner and was appreciated by his patients. However, still half of a century went by until muesli could persist next to bread, rolls and porridge. One reason surely was that whole meal was known only as animal feed. Muesli only became popular around 1968. As an alternative to bourgeois breakfast with sausage bread or jam rolls, muesli became a sign of protest against the establishment. Today muesli is a breakfast option for the whole family. However children often prefer crunchy cornflakes over muesli. But who says that muesli has to be soft and mushy?
Allos shows that there is another way with its Hof Granola: natural cereal flakes, valuable seeds and flakes, coated with a hint of agave syrup, are roasted by Allos until they are crispy and golden brown. Allos Hof Granola is available in various delicious flavours. The Berry Granola mixes oat flakes with a mixture of dried blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. And of course there is also a chocolate mix: Allos Hof Granola Chocolate combines crunchy roasted muesli with chocolate and cocoa. When the small pieces of dark chocolate float in the bowl of milk or soya drink, you'll be happy in the morning. The gently roasted Allos Hof Granola provide extra crunchy variety on the breakfast table. Bon appétit.
