Tuesday 21 July 2015

I used to know someone who would, at every mealtime, dish up  identical, huge platefuls of food for everyone present, despite the fact that her children were 2 and 4.  These would look in horror at the gargantuan (by their standards) heap of food placed in front of them, pick around at it and then leave most of it. utterly daunted  by the task of trying to eat it.

When the table was cleared at the end of the meal, everything remaining, including the heaps of leftovers on the children’s plates as well as everything else left in the kitchen and not served up, would be thrown away – literally binned.  And often this was in vast quantities.

I used to ask her why she did not keep it for use on another occasion – most of the time there was the makings of another meal for the family, and she had both fridge and freezer.  Her reply was that she did not think it hygienic, and that she believed uneaten food should always be thrown away.

But in large measure this is precisely what modern cooling appliances are for.  In general terms, anything left over from any meal in my home is judiciously transferred to some kind of fridge/freezer-friendly container and preserved either for consumption later the same week (in the fridge) or at some indeterminate point in the future (in the freezer).

Putting left-overs in the freezer in single portion plastic bags is a great way of providing a nutritious meal for one when unable or unwilling to cook on any occasion.

My reason for writing about this is that I have just had for dinner some lovely chicken curry left-over and frozen 2-3 weeks ago.  It was excellent and had, if anything, improved with age.