The only thing better than stew one day is stew the second day. I am enamored with leftovers. I love them so much that often I’m thinking about tomorrow while I am cooking today.
It’s hard to deny that something magical happens to thoughtfully prepared meals when you tuck them neatly in the refrigerator overnight. Underneath the blue plastic lids of Zip-lock, resealable containers, flavours continue to develop. The strong ones mellow and the more timid ones bloom. They dance with the fats in a dish and learn to sing.
Food is funny like that. Sometimes the best ingredient you can give food is time to be blissfully ignored. Make your spaghetti sauce on Saturday for Sunday dinner, to boost reviews from five stars to six. Soup is infinitely better the next day. Chili, curries, meat pies, lasagna - oh, lasagna - where do I begin? A nice wedge gently fried the next day is food for angels.
Salad dressings are better the next day. Pies are better the next day. Cookies are a treat on the first day, but the second day presents a delicate change in texture that is hard to resist.
There is a bit of science behind the phenomenon. There is always science with food. Knowing the science is good if you are a cook, but an eater only wants the magic.
Tonight was magic beef stew. It was scrumptious yesterday but decidedly more delicious today. It deserved a fresh loaf of bread. We just finished up what we had. Some leftovers you only eat so they don’t go bad.
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