The fashion of eating cereals 24 hours: myths and legends
1. WHERE DID IT ALL START?
Very briefly, the corn flakes were born at the beginning of the 20th century and were invented a vegetarian and abstemious doctor , whose surname surely sounds familiar to us: Kellogg, John Harvey Kellogg . The Michigan doctor subjected his patients to a strict regimen without alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, based on vegetables, rice, oats, barley..., as a remedy against masturbation and constipation, two great ailments due, according to his belief, to to the lack of fiber. To make their diet a little more entertaining, he and his brother experimented with new forms of food in the kitchen . In one of those, they forgot the wheat cooked in the oven; they thought that the biscuit had been disgraceful to them; But instead of throwing it away, they crushed the grain with a rolling pin, re-roasted it, and got light, crisp flakes. The result of the accident delighted the patients when they tried it with marshmallows and milk . Others, on the other hand, tasted like horse food and preferred the typical breakfast of sausages with scrambled eggs and French fries. True, the corn flakes were healthier—the boxes claimed that with messages like “ Will correct stomach troubles! ”—, but —despite its properties for “ Makes your red blood redder! ”— puffed flakes didn't catch on until they were sweetened.
corn flakes
Currently, each Spaniard eats about 50 bowls of cereals a year —although no pollster has asked you, reader, what you had for breakfast today—, but in the country where they celebrate the National Cereal Day , every American takes 160 . Or maybe not so much anymore, because sales have slowed down lately in the United States. They questioned millennials for an explanation, and they replied that a bowl of Golden Grahams was impractical, that it was not the most comfortable thing to take on the way to school, come on. Kellogg's noticed it in its accounts, and this summer it has reinvented itself by opening a cafe where you can eat some All-Bran in the middle of Times Square. Before they were kith treats —a coffee shop in Brooklyn and Manhattan where they serve you Cap'n Crunch in a box of sneakers— and cereal , a franchise.
"In England there are a couple more bars." Óscar Vela, one of the Cereal Lovers partners , refers to Cereal Killer Coffee Already Black Milk Cereal . "In Australia it's Cereal Anytime ; in Paris, those of Cerealist , in Lisbon Pop Cereal Coffee and in Germany, Flakes Corner. I don't think there are more than ten or twelve in the world."
two. WHAT IS THIS FASHION FOR NOW?
"It's not a fad," says Óscar. Cereals are an integrated product in the diet of many people. and".
So much so that the Apollo XI astronauts took about sugar coated corn flakes tablets to the Moon; their leftover package is on display at the US National Air and Space Museum.
"I think it is closely linked to Instagram and networks in general Marcos Villaplana, from Cereal Hunters, points out. They are places where we transfer the domestic breakfast to the social sphere; is a new gastronomic concept that people like, because it is very photogenic ".
Cristina (20 years old) met them precisely through Instagram. "We thought it was cool and we came to try it, and I never eat cereal... If I have breakfast, I have some toast for breakfast at the faculty." Now he's having some Froot Loops. "Because they come out on TV a lot and I wanted to see what they taste like." It's supposed to be fruit... or fruit candy.
3. WHICH CEREALS ARE MOST SUCCESSFUL?
Cereal Hunters and Cereal Lovers agree: their customers' favorites are the colorful ones. "They also come looking for the waffle crisp what was Joey drinking in friends or the Cheerios who appeared in movies like Matilda either Darling, I shrunk the kids Mark points out. He sees that we have cereals, but the colored Americans have no rival: the Froots Loops, the Lucky Charms and the Apple Jacks".
Colored cereals, the ones that never fail
In Cereal Hunters offer some one hundred and sixty varieties ; in Love Cereals , nail two hundred s, to combine with different _topping_s and twenty-five types of milk. The one that Elías (18 years old) is taking is greenish blue. "But it's normal, cow's milk," he clarifies, "only painted." With some Honey Pops that float while soaking. "They are the ones I always have for breakfast at home." The ones with the bee. "Yes". And that here is where to choose... "I'm afraid of catching a big bowl and then not liking it..."
Darling, I shrunk the kids
In these bars, you have to take risks: " We're like a cereal cocktail bar Oscar says. We work with mixes; coming to eat some cereals to use does not make sense; otherwise you miss out on a lot, with such a wide variety."
Ana (22 years old) gets carried away by nostalgia and opts for some coco shreddies : "The good thing about this place is that I find cereals from when I lived in Miami."
Joey with his Waffle Crisp
Four. WHAT ARE THE MOST EXOTIC CEREALS?
"For example, the donate , who are Thai.” Oscar points to a box with a drawing of a panda bear. Or the waffles , which are a national product, but are only sold in the Canary Islands. The Frosted Mini-Wheats with cinnamon and pumpkin are quite rare —they even go well with a gazpacho. Then we have Romanian, Japanese, New Zealand cereals... And some Australian ones with fiber and protein; They call them Ironman food. . We have also tried to get the Oreo O's, but they are from South Korea and they are prohibited in Spain, because of the preservatives and that; the most similar ones we have here are the Hershey's Cookies 'n' Cream . And as toppings, we have had Korean Matcha Tea Kit Kat Y Thai Raspberry Oreos ". "We had some blue South African cereals with a bubblegum flavor; they belonged to Carlitos, the one from Snoopy, and we ran out of them right away," says Marcos.
Cereal Lovers
"Depending on the country, there are times when names and mascots change: in Mexico, Tony the tiger's Frosties are called Zucaritas , and in the Choco Krispis there is not a monkey, but An elephant They add in Cereal Lovers. Like something original, there are the limited editions, like the ones they released for the last United States elections". Instead of Clinton and Trump , the presidential candidates were a ghost, Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula. To add to any geek collection of boxes.
At Cereal Hunters they boast that their collection is the largest in Spain. "And from Europe surely." Although they are not very clear about how many boxes they have. "About four hundred," he rounds off, "... Some are over twenty-five years old, like a super old Batman, Robin Hood or Pica Piedra" . In the local they only have a few exposed.
Hunters Cereal Bar
5. CEREALS, CRUNCHY OR DUSTY?
Marcos has no doubts: "I always have cold milk, although in the face of winter we have noticed that people are starting to ask for them with hot milk…". Best for eating hot and still crispy: Shreddies. In Cereal Lovers they maintain that, if they give you half a package of these in the desert, you stay dry. "It's not the same to pour cold milk and let them settle than to eat them right away," Óscar points out. "Then there are people, like my wife, who put the milk in first and throw the cereal little by little, so that they don't soften."
6. IS IT EXPENSIVE TO PAY THREE EUROS FOR A BOWL OF CEREALS WHEN 500gr OF CORN FLAKES COSTS YOU LESS THAN TWO EUROS IN THE SUPERMARKET?
Antón Martín's fishmonger thinks so, "because here they serve it to you" . The largest bowl at Cereal Lovers costs 6 euros, but it is a giant portion of 150gr with a liter of milk, to share, of course.
7. WHAT TIME TO HAVE A BOWL OF CEREALS?
Cereals are like tortilla skewers: they go well at any time of the day. Traditionally, they were for breakfast; there are those who take them for dessert at dinner ( briner , now it is said…) ; but when these bars are full it is at snack time. "The other day we passed by here at about seven o'clock and there was an incredible queue, twenty-five meters long," says Néstor (41 years old). He entered the Hunter's Cafe because it caught his attention, although he is not much into cereal. "In the mornings I'm toast with oil and tomato; I see this more for snacking, in the afternoon" I just finished a bowl of Fruity Cheerios with cinnamon and lemon milk. "Too sweet…"
What is the best time to eat some cereal?
8. IS IT HEALTHY TO EAT CEREALS?
"It could be," says the professional General Council of Dietitians-Nutritionists of Spain, Nerea Segura —, but normally it is not". Explain yourself. "There are cereals with an adequate nutritional composition, but this is not the case with most of those that we find in stores, because they have a lot of added sugars, either in the form of honey, syrup , syrup..., they have saturated vegetable fats and the contribution of fiber is only appreciable in the integral ones, which are very few. In addition, they are so refined that the grain loses its natural vitamins and minerals, and they have to be added artificially "And if the cocktail is prepared with a chocolate milkshake, Kinder Bueno croutons and condensed milk, that becomes a glucose bomb. "For me that's not cereal; that's sweets" . But it seems that the light flakes are not saved either. "In terms of calories, they have practically the same as any sugary cereal for children, only that they add fiber and sweetener instead of sugar. It is best to read the label and choose those with fewer ingredients: rice, corn or wheat and little plus some stabilizer and salt. Because a lot of the names we don't know — maltodextrin, dextrose — are actually hidden sugars."
In a study conducted by FACUA-Consumers in Action in 2008 , it was denounced that nine out of ten cereals sold in Spain had excessive amounts of sugar. And that European grasses are less sweetened than American ones, where Kellogg's has committed to using 723 tons less sugar as a New Year's resolution. "There are cereals that are quite sugary -they recognize in Cereal Lovers-, but the problem is not in the sugar, but in gluttony that one has In addition, we also have sugar-free, lactose-free and gluten-free alternatives". As well as toppings of banana, apple, orange, hazelnuts, blueberries, raisins..." Then there is the oatmeal to make porridges, which are very popular in England —they suggest from Cereal Hunters. But the healthiest proposals are not usually very successful, because if you come to a place like that, It's to give you a whim."
Follow @meritxellanfi
Dyes, sugars, fats... is it healthy to eat cereals?