Hot food cold

[jhlurie]

Consider this an extension of the Leftovers thread.

For years people have been trying to convince me that pizza is even better the next day cold.

I've never gotten this.

But I'll admit that there are some hot foods I prefer cold--Fried Chicken comes to mind.

What else fits this category?  And why?

[Jinmyo]

Hold on a second, jhlurie. What do we mean by hot or cold? Taken chilled from the refrigerator is definitely cold. Steaming from the pan is definitely hot. Both could be colder (frozen) or hotter (molten or white hot glowing chunks), of course. But what about at room temperature? Slightly warm after cooling on the cutting board?

I think many things are best cooled but not cold. For example, I've just had some liver sausage from an Italian speciality store. Seasoned nicely with fennel seed, pepper, chile. It burst in the pan so I broke it up, including the bits of browned casing. Tasted with my fingers as I went. Delicious. Let it cool. (But not become cold.) Scooped some into a petite pain that had come out of the oven 40 minutes before. Some cold (from the refrigerator) mustard. Delicious.

So. Cold. (From the fridge.) Hot. (From the pan.) Cooling or at room temperature.

When we say "cold pizza", do we mean cold? Or taken out from the fridge and left to warm up ? Or does that go against the entire cold pizza ethos?

[Julliana]

I've never eaten cold pizza and the thought is not appealing, however....

my mother used to take the leftover nova salmon at the end of the weekend and fry up some onions and make nova/eggs/onion.  For some reason that I never thought to ask why she used to put it in the refrigerator and served it cold. I know some people may be getting sick about now, but.... there was something about how the flavor of the carmelized onions and the shards of nova was more intense when it was cold.  My mother's dish was almost as good as the Barney Greengrass one served hot. I've never made it myself, but I wonder if I'd still like it and if it would have been a little better or worse at room temp, instead of cold from the refrigerator.

There's something that I eat straight from the refrigerator that is meant to be warmed up that I just cant think of at this moment.  Everytime I eat it I think of that nova/eggs/onion dish of my mother's and think to myself - "you know this is supposed to be eaten hot, but it tastes soooo good this way too" :)

There's a lot of cooked food that I dont think rewarms well, like roasted chicken, cooked salmon and other fish dishes so I tend to eat them at room temperature or after leaving them on the counter for 10 minutes to get the chill out.

There are some chinese take out dishes that I like cold, like chicken with eggplant in garlic sauce - the flavors get very intense and there's something yummy about it.  Maybe thats the one that reminds me of the nova dish.

I'm sure I'll think of others.

Julliana

[jhlurie]

Let's assume "hot" means cooked.

Cold means "directly from the refrigerator".

At least for this thread.

[Jinmyo]

Okay. But then your friends must not actually like the taste of the pizza that they eat cold because all of the flavours will be muted by the chill. So it necessarily does not "taste better". There's something else they like about it.

[Miss J]

On the appeal of cold pizza - could it be that it's not a matter of taste, but of texture? Of course, we in the West don't pay much attention to the texture of foods and how different textures enhance different flavours (at least, we don't compared to the Chinese). Therefore, as well as reacting to the 'taste' of cold pizza jlurie's friends may also inadvertently be commenting on how they enjoy the firmer, more cohesive mouth-feel.

Personally, I like cold pizza. I wouldn't say it was better than hot pizza, but then I wouldn't say it was worse either. It's just different. And yes, it's nicer at room temperature than it is straight-from-the-fridge.

Actually, I rather like eating leftover dry vegetable-y Indian dishes cold, too. Wrapped in bread. Maybe I'm just too lazy to heat things up?

Miss J

[tommy]

Okay. But then your friends must not actually like the taste of the pizza that they eat cold because all of the flavours will be muted by the chill. So it necessarily does not "taste better". There's something else they like about it.

there's something else about it alright:  when we eat these "hot things cold", we tend to be either drunk or stoned.  and everyone knows everything tastes better when you're drunk or stoned.

cold fried chicken beats out cold pizza any day, regardless of your state of mind.

[macrosan]

When I order a take-out from my (excellent) local Chinese restaurant, I always order a dish of Five Spices Chicken Wings, put it in the fridge, and eat it next day cold. I have had it hot, but it's actually much better cold. The sauce seems to get thicker and tangier, the sea-salt crystallises on the surface, and the texture of the half-fried wings is chunkier.

[Wilfrid]

The Chinese take-out, straight from the fridge the next morning.  Traditional hangover food.  I think it gives the blood sugar a good kick in the pants.  I especially commend sweet and sour chicken this way.

[bigbear]

As a kid, there was nothing I liked better than grabbing a fork and eating leftover meatballs right out of the tomato sauce in the fridge. Drove my mother crazy. I still do it. My wife couldn't care less. I do it for the taste and convenience.

About 3 months ago, my 85 year-old mother admitted that she finally tried it. She conceded that it wasn't half bad. True praise, indeed.

[stefanyb]

As far as I'm concerned, the epitome of hot food eaten cold and being better for it is shrimp in lobster sauce.  The garlic- the gelatinous sauce- the curdled egg- the scallion bits- the pork- the shrimp!  Its all better cold and the very best if in a plastic container and eaten with a tablespoon.  (Just forget the white rice). This stuff just slides down your throat, mmmmm.

[Jim Dixon]

I've worked at many jobs outside where I had to bring lunch if I wanted to eat (no delis near clear cuts), and over time I developed an appreciation of the subtle differences between what I had eaten the night before hot and what I was eating the next day. And the temp varied depending on the weather, so it was very often cold and other times room temp to warmish.

I found that most dishes seemed to taste better when not hot. Of course some of that may be from the experience of eating outdoors, where food always seems to taste better, although many of these kinds of meals were consumed in conditions you wouold not choose for a picnic. A few hours of planting trees or pounding nails also does wonders for the appetite.

There may also be another element at work, the "marrying of flavors" that occurs over time. But I still enjoy eating leftovers that have not been reheated, spooning bites out of my trusty screw-top plastic containers (carry a tub of margarine backpacking just once and you will ever after only use containers with secure lids).

Jim

[smithi]

Many people cook their kielbasa before eating it...i'll have a cold kielbasa sandwich anyday.  You need quality kielbasa, sliced thinly, some fresh rye bread and great mustard (w/ some mayo sometimes).  A great simple sandwich.

[schmoopie]

My husband likes cold meatloaf sandwhiches.  As a matter of fact, he has me make them just for sandwhiches.

[schmoopie]

Let's all pretend I know how to spell sandwich.

[Wilfrid]

I am with your husband on that, however you spell them.  A scrape of tomato ketchup too, please.

[jhlurie]

Bumping this topic up as a counterpoint of sorts to vengroff's a la seconde topic, about foods best enjoyed quickly after being cooked.

[KNorthrup]

My mother swears by cold pizza for breakfast but I can't get into it.

My favourite straight out of the fridge is yet more leftover Chinese -- specifically salt and pepper fish.

[sonnykilstein]

cold spaghetti marinara

cold gelatinous chicken soup

cold wiener schnitzl

cold roast chicken

cold boiled potatoes and sour cream

[torakris]

cold pizza is great! the cheaper the better.

I also love cold meatloaf, I always make extra for sandwiches, I have some in the refrigerator right now waiting for lunch.

[Basildog]

My mother's baked rice pudding

[cakewalk]

Cold lasagne. From the fridge. Stoned, drunk, or straight. It just tastes better.

[jpyvr]

Greek-style roasted potatoes. I can't say they're better cold than hot, but surprisingly they're just as fabulous. You know the kind...big wedges of peeled russets, tossed in a mixture of lemon juice, LOTS of olive oil, and oregano, and roasted along side a whole chicken.

Serve 'em cubed then next day, on toothpicks, as canapes with drinks. Not much to look at, but a perfect accompaniment to aperitifs.

[elyse]

Okay. But then your friends must not actually like the taste of the pizza that they eat cold because all of the flavours will be muted by the chill. So it necessarily does not "taste better". There's something else they like about it.

there's something else about it alright:  when we eat these "hot things cold", we tend to be either drunk or stoned.  and everyone knows everything tastes better when you're drunk or stoned.

cold fried chicken beats out cold pizza any day, regardless of your state of mind.

A couple of additions to Tommy's point. The cold pizza I've had had usually been left out all night after a binge of whatever substance. For me, it was the thankfullness of having something with some powers of absorbtion or nutrition in me belly. Had nothing to do with the taste or texture for me.

[sonnykilstein]

Greek-style roasted potatoes. I can't say they're better cold than hot, but surprisingly they're just as fabulous. You know the kind...big wedges of peeled russets, tossed in a mixture of lemon juice, LOTS of olive oil, and oregano, and roasted along side a whole chicken.

Serve 'em cubed then next day, on toothpicks, as canapes with drinks. Not much to look at, but a perfect accompaniment to aperitifs.

Sounds like a geat idea. I can see them with perhaps a dipping sauce of aoili. Yum.