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Sometimes a dish needs a little “me” time tucked away in the fridge, away from you and your fussing. Then, 24 hours later, like some sort of tupperware alchemy, it tastes like the best version of itself.
It’s no sorcery, explained scientist Amanda Greene, who runs the food science blog Decoding Delicious. “Various things change when foods rest,” she said. “It [can be] a subtle change, but it can noticeably improve the overall flavor of a dish.”
So what exactly is going on behind the refrigerator’s closed door? Essentially, ingredients better meld and mingle after a night in the fridge, and Greene ticked off a few explanations for why some dishes benefit more than others.
Curry. There’s a wide array of different substances in curry dishes—coconut milk, oils, spices, proteins, vegetables, and more—all working together to create an overall flavor. “As food and sauce commingle, their flavors have a chance to migrate,” Greene said. “When the dish is fresh, almost all of the chile flavor is in oil droplets and almost all of the chicken flavor is in the chicken, but mellowing happens when those flavors have the time to slowly travel and permeate the whole dish.”
Stew. Similar mechanisms occur in stews. For instance, the cumin, coriander, allspice, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper in your vegetarianMarrakesh stew will better infuse into the dish’s chickpeas, potatoes, eggplants, carrots, and squash some time in the fridge.
Brisket. Some brisket aficionados swear that brisket tastes better after a day or two. Greene thinks this may because the meat’s gelatin content has more time to evenly disperse overnight, thus “giving it a more uniformly moist texture and rich, beefy flavor.”
Pasta and sauce. Although some would say leftover pasta is just criminal, as fresh noodles are best, “ spaghetti left in tomato sauce overnight will absorb moisture from the sauce, leaving you with a more concentrated tomato sauce that’s better able to adhere to the noodle,” Greene said. “Plus, the pasta is infused with tomato flavor from the juices it’s absorbed, giving you a more intense and uniform flavor experience overall.”
Icebox cake. This no-cook dessert is designed specifically for the refrigerator, which is perhaps why a recipe for chocolate-ricotta icebox cake notes that you can make it two days ahead of time. Chocolate wafers absorb moisture from the ricotta cheese and cream, producing a cake that only gets more luxe with time.
Lemon potatoes. Yep, more melding action. “Starches tend to continue to absorb moisture in storage,” Greene said, which means those lemon potatoes only get more lemony after a night in the fridge.
Creamy and spiced soups. The various waters, oils, and spices in dishes like sweet potato and chipotle soup are tastier after a night getting to know one another. If you don’t have do-ahead time, though, Greene suggests toasting, crushing, or grinding spices before cooking, which helps coax out their nuanced flavors.
But the principles successfully at play in these dishes can backfire in others, like brewed tea. “Bitter flavors tend to be large and stubborn by solubility standards,” Greene said. “So the longer you steep your tea, the more chance those bitter compounds have to leave their leaf and make a home in your beverage.”
All good things to know, and good incentives for cooking up enough food to feed an army. (If that army doesn’t show up, at least you’ll have tasty leftovers.)
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