Have you ever made a delicious meal, only to have leftovers that you’re not sure will taste good the next day?
Surprisingly, some dishes can actually taste better when left overnight. Our sense of taste is complex and it involves our taste buds, the aroma of the food, and our memories and expectations.
Taste buds detect five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Aroma also plays a crucial role in shaping our perception of flavours and make us expectant when it comes to a particular dish especially when it happens to be a favourite dish.
When we cook food, chemical reactions occur that unlock and develop flavours. These reactions don’t stop when we finish cooking – they can continue to occur slowly even after refrigeration. This can lead to new flavour compounds forming and flavours becoming more balanced and harmonious.
As a result, some leftovers can taste even more complex and satisfying the next day. This is because the flavours have had time to meld together and intensify, creating a more delicious dish.
So, don’t worry if you can’t finish a meal in one sitting – it might just taste better the next day. This is especially true for dishes like chili, stew, and curry, which often benefit from a night in the fridge.
In short, the science behind taste shows that leftovers can indeed taste better the next day, thanks to the continued development of flavours and the melding of flavours overnight.
Reasons Why Some Leftover Foods Taste Better the Next Day
1. Flavour Melding:
When we cook a meal, the individual flavours are like separate instruments playing their own parts. But as the dish sits overnight, these flavours have a chance to meld together, creating a more harmonious and complex taste experience.
This is especially true for dishes with strong acidic elements or complex spice blends, like chilli or curry.
2. Chemical Reactions in Leftover Foods:
Chemical reactions also continue to occur after cooking, developing new flavours and deepening existing ones. The Maillard reaction, for example, creates the savoury flavours and brown colour that come with searing meat or caramelising onions. Similarly, the breakdown of collagen in meats releases gelatin, making stews and braises richer and more tender.
3. Aromatics:
Our sense of smell plays a significant role in how we perceive taste. Sometimes, the strong aromatic smell of a freshly cooked meal can be overpowering, but the next day, the subtler notes come through, creating a more balanced and appealing scent.
4. Breakdown of Starches in Left Over Food:
Starch breakdown in food is the process of breaking down starches from complex carbohydrate into simpler sugars.
The breakdown of starches in food can make:
- The texture of the food soft.
- Increase its sweetness.
- Makes it easy to digest.
5. Texture:
Texture can also affect how we experience flavours. Some dishes, like stews and braises, become more tender and flavorful after resting, while others, like roasted vegetables or fried foods, may lose their crispness and become less enjoyable.
Conclusion
Not all leftovers benefit from this effect. However, dishes with complex flavours that have time to develop and meld, like stews, soups, braises, and curries, tend to taste better the next day.
On the other hand, delicately flavoured dishes or those that rely on freshness, like salads or certain seafood dishes, may not fare as well. Because their taste depends on its freshness.
With a little understanding of the science behind it, you can transform yesterday’s dinner into a better dish for the next day. Enjoy a delicious and budget-friendly second meal, and appreciate the culinary mystery that happens overnight.
More here: Food Packaging and Its Importance.
