In one of his recent posts, Jimmy made reference to cold pizza in such a way as to make one speculate that he appreciates the occasional refrigerated snack. I have nursed a private affinity for chilled foods for some years, but until now have never publicly acknowledged my secret.
Hello, my name is Tim, and I like cold food.
I’m not talking about things you would normally eat cold, like yogurt or deli meat. I’m talking about those things that you would normally heat up before consuming. The merits of cold fried chicken, of course, are well documented. That’s one that would fall into the category of socially accepted cold food. One could eat this without receiving weird looks from friends or family.
I am advocating more adventurous and creative dishes: cold mashed potatoes and gravy, cold chicken and rice casserole, or (my personal favorite) the cold spaghetti sauce sandwich. The latter has to be made with meat sauce, and the more meat the better. Vegetable-only spaghetti sauce just won’t hold together. It should also be made with some good bread; leftover garlic toast or a hoagie roll work nicely. Steer away from the pasty white sandwich bread. The same can be done with cold chili.
Cold food has several advantages over warmed-up food: It is great when you are in a hurry, it requires no sauce pan or anything like that, and it will never FRY THE ROOF OF YOUR MOUTH as a result of being heated far beyond natural limits in a microwave oven. A piece of microwaved pizza can be a real health hazard, far hotter than anything served straight from a regular oven. Molten cheese behaves like napalm at those temperatures.
Now one thing I have noticed about cold foods: This seems to be a phenomenon associated with the x/y chromosome combo. In other words, it seems to be a guy thing. Often when indulging my cold-food jones, I am met with incredulous looks from the female members of the household, and remarks like "Aren’t you going to warm that up?", or "Put that on a plate, you’ll enjoy it more.". Obviously this is a pleasure that simply remains opaque to many bystanders.
I am no longer ashamed of my love for congealed beef stroganoff. If the French can have their vichyssoise, I am entitled to my wedge of macaroni and cheese or a quivering slice of chicken and dumplings.
Mm-m-m-m-m…
I’m with you on this Tim. And I think you’re right about it being a guy thing. My wife thinks I’m crazy when I eat stuff cold. Some of my favorites are pasta meals right out of the can. Though these are not technically “cold”, I think they qualify. Chef Boyardee ravioli, open the can and Voila a great meal with no work.
I justify my cold food preference by telling my wife that cold food is easier to digest. Doesn’t quite work, but I’m stickin’ to that.
One thing I like to do is add milk to soup ~ especially chili. I figure it takes the edge off the heat and I add another source of milk to my diet.
I, too, am an enjoyer of the cold foods.
However, I think it may be at least partially related to sloth, as it’s so much easier to pick at left-overs in their natural habitat when your hungry than it is to coax them out of their housing, find suitable dish to warm them, warm them, make sure they’r enot too hot, only THEN eat, and then be stuck with dishes…
I’m especially fond of restaurant leftovers in the togo box because all you do is eat and pitch, no muss no fuss…
I for one enjoy pizza cold. I will put pizza in the fridge immediatly after I get it to cool it down.
It’s not just a guy thing. I love cold food, too. Usually pasta or pizza, but I’ve been known to wolf down cold mashed potatoes too. The only drawback is that it encourages snacking, which is something I’ve been trying to cut back on. Actually having to take the time to warm up and set out the leftovers as a meal — rather than refrigerator grazing — is better for the waistline.
I agree that it’s not just a guy thing. I often eat cold leftovers. I know it’s because I just can’t be bothered to heat it to a very precise temperature, just to have it cool down in 5 minutes anyway.
I don’t think this is always sloth, though. Sometimes I just honestly have better things to do than spend time heating things up and washing those dishes. If I can be a little less picky about temperature, I can save time.
Regarding pizza, I eat pizza hot the first time (of course) but as a leftover I think the texture of the crust is better cold than re-heated.
I love cold Thanksgiving turkey with ketchup. I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved it since being a kid.
mmmMMmmmmm cccccCCCCOLLLD food! Count me in! I HATE hot food and always wait until it’s at least room temperature.
Drives me nuts at a restaurant when I’ve finally gotten my coffee the right (cool) temperature and some well meaning waitperson comes along and warms it up without asking first!
‘thann
I DO want my coffee hot. HOT!
I also find the eating of room-temp Chef Boy-ar-Dee out of the can a little sad. Like sleeping in a cardboard box. But, hey, whatever… 😉
Some foods should always be eaten hot: Steak, scallops… stuff like that.
But some foods I genuinely like just as well, or better, served cold. You never know until you try.
Come to the COLD side!
I also find the eating of room-temp Chef Boy-ar-Dee out of the can a little sad. Like sleeping in a cardboard box. But, hey, whatever… 😉
Sure Time…side with my wife! And to think I had your back on this one…:(
That should be “Sure Tim” above.
Sorry, Dan. I calls ’em as I sees ’em. 🙂
Our cold food movement was just beginning, and already we must guard against factionalism.
As much as I hate to air our dirty laundry in front of those who still don’t understand cold food, I must point out that room temperature food puts one in peril of straddling the issue.
You must CHOOSE, Daniel-san. There is no luke-warm. There is only hot or cold.
I am another female lover of cold food – however my favorites are cold fried chicken and cold BBQ brisket (okay, I am from the south!).
Maybe five times in the last three weeks my wife has seen me eating cold leftovers and looks at me like maybe she’s having second thoughts about me.
Maybe five times in the last three weeks my wife has seen me eating cold leftovers and looks at me like maybe she’s having second thoughts about me.
Wait a second here… of COURSE enjoying room-temp foods is a viable option! Why must we all think it necessary to choose between two extremes? There’s almost always another option.
I hate shopping. I hate cooking. I don’t even really like eating. I just don’t like being extremely hungry even more than I don’t like eating. And then there were canned foods. Oh my god! It’s a great mixture of ingredients that doesn’t require me to do any of the foot work, nor does it require ANY dishes what-so-ever (that is, if you also stock up on plastic silverware once in a while). The best thing about them is that since they are already prepared and sealed, you can stock up on them, cool ’em off, heat ’em up… It’s like always having leftovers without having to worry about them getting moldy or otherwise stale.
Of course, it’s only good in moderation. I prefer to have something else for lunch at work, on the rare occasions that I do in fact eat lunch at work. I don’t enjoy them for breakfast, either. But after work when I’m totally exhausted and I just want to plop down and not even think about doing even a remote and minute amount of work that does not appeal to me, I just open the cupboard, pop open a can (You gotta have the soup cans with the tabs on top!), grap a plastic (spoon/fork), and do something that actually appeals to me while also filling my stomach. So that avoids the entire first step of having to make the meal the first time, and skips right to what could basically be considered left-overs. Mm-mm good.