When Leftovers Are Better Than Fresh Food

At one time in my life, I was cooking for six people every day. I made huge pots of food, hoping for leftovers, but since most of the family were teenagers, that didn't happen often. Now I live alone, and whatever I cook on rare occasions is guaranteed to leave leftovers, if not for a couple of days, then for many individual meals in the freezer. 

Leftovers weren't really much of a thing until we got refrigerators and freezers. Later innovations in leftovers were doggy bags, Tupperware, and ultimately microwave ovens. Along the way, we discovered that certain foods actually tasted better the next day after resting in the cold for a while. Spices diffuse, fats congeal, and food components meld into each other. It's not just your imagination (although that helps). Tom Blank of Weird History Food explains the science that proves some leftovers are better the second day, and thereafter.