A prolific Sydney-based food writer and muesli reviewer welcomed me into his home kitchen. That morning, I witnessed the making of his exceptional muesli that originated in 2009. Back as a university student, Nick found a way to save some money by making his own muesli as ingredients were much cheaper when bought in bulk. He’d share them with family and friends, and before long people would come knocking on his door bringing their own Tupperware to buy his home made muesli. So off he went to Reverse Garbage in Marrickville and got himself four old pharmaceutical 60L buckets to mix and store his muesli in. He assured me he gave them a good wash!

During the 2020 lockdown period, Nick started an Instagram account reviewing various brands of mueslis. You can read and listen more in depth about this project of his on The Guardian and ABC.

A good wholesome muesli to Nick is one that’s full of textures. The whole morning Nick spent roasting and chopping the various nuts into equal size (I especially admired his patience in peeling and halving the roasted hazelnuts), dicing the various dried fruits and toasting the grains. Everything went into the big tub and mixed by hands. It was quite mesmerising to watch. I now wish I had a go at mixing it.

When he’s not writing about food or hand mixing muesli at home, Nick puts his all into his latest project Have You Eaten – an interactive map of Sydney food, where you can search for eateries by your choice of cuisine.