Food, the popular wisdom holds, tastes better the next day, but science has revealed that the effect is modest and applies only to some leftovers.
鈥淚 was a qualified chef before I became a food and sensory scientist, and this was one of those kitchen myths I had heard many times,鈥� says at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.
鈥淚t was also something I felt I had experienced myself. You have a takeaway curry one night, then eat the leftovers for breakfast the next morning, and somehow it seems even better.鈥�
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To put the idea to the test, Keast and his colleagues first conducted a small survey where they asked participants to choose four foods they most strongly believed taste better the next day from a list of 25 popular dishes.
Then, a new group of 65 volunteers participated in a blind taste test of the chosen dishes 鈥� beef lasagne, butter chicken, dhal and apple crumble 鈥� under rigorous laboratory conditions.
鈥淲e used the same recipes, the same ingredient batches, the same preparation methods, the same research technician, controlled storage at refrigeration temperature, controlled reheating, randomised three-digit codes and blinded sensory testing,鈥� says Keast.
First, the researchers asked the volunteers if they could tell that the freshly cooked and day-old food were different. Dhal came in as the most changed after a spell in the fridge, with over 80 per cent of the respondents able to discern a difference in taste. Butter chicken and apple crumble were also distinguishable, but lasagne wasn鈥檛.
The next question was which they preferred. Nearly 64 per cent of the volunteers said the day-old butter chicken was better, but for the other three foods, the preferences were split almost fifty-fifty.
鈥淲hat was interesting is that none of the day-old foods were less liked when people tasted them blind,鈥� says Keast. 鈥淪o, it was not as though overnight storage caused an obvious drop in enjoyment. That leaves room for expectation to play a powerful role in everyday eating.鈥�
If a food was good the day before and it still tastes good the next day, then the belief that it should now be richer, more balanced or more developed may enhance the experience, he says. 鈥淵ou bring the belief that it should be better, and that may make the next-day experience feel even better.鈥�
The conclusion is not that all foods taste better the next day, but that some foods can change in ways people notice and occasionally prefer. 鈥淪o, the study did not kill the myth, but it did make it more precise,鈥� says Keast. 鈥淪ome foods really do change overnight, but 鈥榖etter the next day鈥� is not a universal rule.鈥�
The most likely candidates for a next-day effect are probably 鈥渃omplex, moist, sauce-based foods where flavour compounds, fats, spices, starches and proteins have time to redistribute or integrate鈥�, he says.
鈥淚t makes absolute sense that some foods would taste better later and that other foods wouldn鈥檛,鈥� says at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney.
鈥淚 also think this experiment has isolated the taste-flavour component only,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here is possibly a psychological component of enjoyment in not having to make a decision and not having to make the effort to prepare.鈥�
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