Serious Eats

That's Nuts: Trail Mix, Also Known As 'Student Food'


[Photograph: Andrea Hernandez]

Raisins, peanuts, almonds, and chocolate thrown together in a bag: to many of us, that's just called trail mix.

But in Europe, this combination, with many slight variations in derivation and ingredients, is usually referred to as "Student Food." In Germany, it's studentenfutter ("student feed"), in Denmark, studenterhavre ("student oats") and to the Poles it's diákcsemege ("student delicacy"). All these names convey the same idea, though: dried fruits and nuts are a great food for students and young people.

"Student Food" might seem like a curious name for this popular snack, and there are a number of different thoughts about how it came to be:

What are your favorite nut/dried fruit combinations?


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