Leftovers

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Tripel

Tripel

Puritan Board Senior
Why is it that leftovers are sometimes better than the initial product???

Without fail, chili, spaghetti, and Chinese takeout taste better to me the 2nd time 'round. You'd think that wouldn't be the case.

With chili, I like the leftovers so much more that I'm seriously considering skipping the initial meal next time and storing it for the next day. I generally serve chili leftovers on top of white rice, and it's just so much more tasty that way. With spaghetti, perhaps something is happening when the sauce and noodles are packaged together to refrigerate overnight. The same affect might explain the Chinese food. It must be the sesame chicken, lo mein, and shrimp fried rice blending flavors when all thrown in the same container. Whatever is going on, it's delicious.

Does anyone else experience the same phenomenon?
 
My second son felt this so strongly where baked beans were concerned, that when he was in his teens I would cook them first in plenty of time to let them cool, so he could then have them reheated.
My theory is that this is generally the case with composite dishes, which depend on the amalgamation of flavours to be at their best, stew or soup for eg. The longer they've been amalgamating, the better they taste
 
Mmmm... I love meatloaf left-over to make meatloaf sandwiches, and left-over chicken and noodles is the best!
 
You'll find that soups, sauces, certain baked items such as casseroles, baked ziti, lasagna, etc tend to taste better the second day. Why? The flavors in the food as Wayne stated will meld or as chefs would say marry. When I make a soup the first day it's good, however, the next day the flavor improves dramatically. The cooling down and chilling a food product tends to allow the flavors to congeal much more easily as well. This is not the case with all food. Certain dishes are served best when their cooked to the minute. For example fish, eggs, beef, and other proteins don't do well cooked chilled and then served. When the molecules from the food are first introduced there in a hot state expanding the molecular make up. When the food chills the molecules congeal or condense allowing for a more concentrated flavor the next day.
 
John Lanier said:
Skyler said:
John Lanier said:
Doesn't work with mac and cheese or french fries though.
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Leftover mac & cheese works great if you spread a piece of bread with leftover spaghetti sauce and mash up the mac & cheese on top. It's almost like pizza. :)
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Are you a college student?:D

That sounds like something I would have done in college.
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Yes... but I actually picked it up before I went to college. From a book on living thriftily: "The Tightwad Gazette". =)
 
My favorate leftovers to eat is jambalaya. Put a little olive oil in a skillet and sort of fry it to heat it up. Very good.
 
The ultimate leftover concoction: musgo fried rice. Take all of the pieces of meat that "mus(t) go" and some leftover veg and make a fried rice with them.
 
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