Why Have Leftovers Lost Their Appeal?

Moaned at many dinner tables is the familiar chant, “Not leftovers again!”

- Bonnie Orr

Leftover food served at a second meal is a common kitchen regimen — or it has been until recently. (Do you remember when Dagwood used to make the midnight raids on the refrigerator?)

My interest in leftovers was peaked when I read articles about the amount of food wasted in the US. Currently, an estimated 24 percent of food rots in the refrigerator.

Previously, saving food was seen as a virtue, and this is why restaurants began to offer “doggy bags” and developed special take-home containers.

I asked a variety of people of different ages about leftovers and have concluded that the aversion to eating leftovers is based on age and eating habits.

People generally agreed that a leftover sandwich that had become soggy was truly not palatable — nor was salad with salad dressing.

Many folks felt that Asian food made with pungent ingredients such as fish sauce never made it out of the dark recesses of the refrigerator.

Unsurprisingly, not a single person threw out leftover pizza.

People over 50 indicated that leftovers are convenient because a satisfying meal can be served in minutes by merely reheating it.

However, dishes such as stew or soup became undesirable as they reappeared at too many meals in succession, even though the flavor improved with re-heating.

The worst case is when one tires of the dish and freezes the remainder — the memory of the saturation dooms it to remain in the freezer until the freezer is cleaned out.