Ever wondered why some recipes – mostly meat-based – are better “the day after”? Here's the scientific reasons why certain dishes should be left to "rest."
It
is a well known fact that time is the smart chef’s best ally: the more he or
she has, the better the results. This is particularly true of dishes that need
to be left to rest. It may come as a surprise to learn that food needs rest.
Just as sleep is restorative for human beings, rest can make a good dish taste
even better.
Have
you ever wondered why some recipes are better “the day after”? Or why others,
once cooked, need to be left to rest before being consumed? Here's the
scientific reasons why certain dishes should be left to "rest."
Why some recipes are
better "the day after"
All
dishes that are “better the day after” have one thing in common: they are rich
in fats and spices. In the case of spices, the problem is that when they have
just finished cooking they tend to have strong and very distinguishable
flavours. With time, and left to rest sufficiently, their aromatic substances
mellow and blend, creating a well-balanced and uniform result, offering the
best possible flavours.
Another
reason is that these ingredients, similarly to onion, garlic and herbs, tend to
trigger many chemical reactions during cooking, particularly when in contact
with proteins and starchy foods. When the cooking process is over, these
reactions are suspended, only to resume when the food is reheated.
This
is why certain flavours are more evident, and more enjoyable, when the dish is
reheated time after time: it is no coincidence that the famous Tuscan soup
known as ribollita is largely made up of bread and beans rich in starch
combined with onions and kale, which are in fact very reactive.
Tuscan Ribollita
You
will now understand that the secret behind reheated food derives from many
different chemical and physical processes. Now, with regards to stews and
casseroles we are going to learn something else. These dishes are made from
cheaper cuts of meat that are rich in collagen and suitable for long slow
cooking methods.
Collagen,
when cooked, takes on a jelly-like consistency and incorporates the flavours of
the casserole sauce. When it cools, the gelatine “captures” the flavours and
for this reason, a lukewarm stew tends to be tastier.
The
same principle also applies to boiled meat dishes made from similar
collagen-rich cuts, which are most enjoyable when eaten slightly warm rather
than piping hot. The reason why it is preferable to leave a good beef steak to
rest after cooking is somewhat different.
It's a matter of
proteins
Hang
on a minute: were you thinking of serving it straight from the grill? That
would be a mistake and I shall tell you why. Meat is muscle tissue packed with
rod-like bundles of muscular fibres, which in their turn are crammed with finer
filaments called myofibrils. The latter are made up of two proteins called
myosin and actin.
When
heated, these proteins unite, causing the myofibrils to come together and
contract. In this way, all the juices contained in the meat are forced out: we
can see this happening on the grill when our steak releases a considerable
amount of liquid.
Just
think, heat can reduce a myofibril to half its volume. However, this process is
partially reversible: once the meat has been removed from the heat source, the
myofibrils relax and, at this point, tend to reabsorb external moisture.
So
this is why, after grilling your meat, it is not only advisable to leave it to
rest for five minutes, but also to dress it with plenty of oil and its own
cooking juices. This creates a moist environment enabling some of the juices to
be absorbed by the myofibrils, making the meat more tender and succulent than
ever. In brief, leave your dishes to rest, when appropriate: you will be
rewarded with lots of extra flavour.
By FDL