One of the few disagreements my wife and I regularly have (well, one of many if you’re my wife) is around leftovers. I grew up in a family where leftovers were a part of life. And a welcome one at that. My wife was raised in a very large family where leftovers simply did not exist. In her house, all food was consumed on the spot lest someone else happily ate it for you. So it’s not so much that she’s anti-leftover; she just never was able to appreciate the superior dining user experience that leftovers provide. To educate her and others, not on the leftovers bandwagon, here’s why leftovers rule.
- Efficiency: Obviously, not having to cook a whole meal from scratch is superior in terms of use of resources and time. Simply utilizing something that has already been made is a hugely efficient means of food preparation. Keep those pots and pans where they are. Don’t need ’em. Washing dishes is a thing of the past. Eating out of the storage container is considered fine dining when it comes to leftovers. There is simply no more efficient in-home dining experience than leftovers.
- Conservation: Don’t throw all that perfectly good food away! Don’t you know there are kids starving somewhere in the world that would be happy to have what you are about to throw in the trash? Leftovers are green, baby. Unless they are literally green when they shouldn’t be. Food poisoning is a real risk. Throw the fuzzy stuff away, and don’t worry about it.
- Effort: Want it hot? No problem. That’s why god invented microwaves. Like it cold? Even better. Straight from the fridge to your belly is inarguably the lowest-effort dining scenario imaginable. We do need to solve for the incongruity of tin foil being the preferred means of leftover packaging and its unsuitability for microwave use. Huge bug.
- Taste: While not true in every case, more often than not, letting food age a day or two in the fridge only improves its taste and flavor complexity. Soups and stews shouldn’t even be served unless they’ve sat in their own juices for at least 24 hours. Pizza? Are you serious? Name one thing more delicious than cold pizza. You can’t. And if you think you can, you’re wrong.
As we can all clearly see from my exhaustive and logically impenetrable arguments, leftovers are unquestionably the cuisine with the single greatest user experience around. Now run, don’t walk, to your fridge and grab that finely aged carton of Kung Pao Chicken and have the meal—and experience—of your life. You can thank me later.
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