Are hot meals necessary..?

bud-miser

I know people who'd think the world was about to end if they didn't have three cooked meals every day... then there are those who are happy with two or even just one.

On the other hand, there is a school of thought which says that heating veg in any way does away with the vitamin benefit.

I'm not proposing that the meat eaters among us go back to steak tartare but... given the fact that we're SUPPOSED to be discussing the saving of money ... any thoughts?

Rachie_B

for me personally, its about the meal being filling,nutritious and tasty

and there are cold meals that meet that spec

bud-miser

Exactly. Is there anything to the idea of 'warmth' in food being attractive for its own sake, outside of the three qualities mentioned above?

sophistica

I know someone who only eats raw vegetables and fruits and coconut oil!

kscour

I think (only my opinion mind!) that the three hot meals or square meals comes from the days were it meant you actually had a proper meal on your plate.
The only thing that to me makes a hot meal special is what from my younger days I have always called "casserole weather" where I came in from school wet from the rain and miserable from the cold and that smell of casserole or stew and dumplings soaked through to my heart - I really really loved my Mum on those days when she'd gone to the trouble of rustling up my miserable weather favourites!

jcr16

i don't mind the odd cold meal for dinner. ie ploughmans etc in summer. but for me personally i feel providing a hot home cooked meal for family at end of a cold, wet and windy day is the best way to end the day. we all sit together at the table and enjoy family time. and i not sure a cold meal would feel the same .

Queenie

bud-miser wrote:

Exactly. Is there anything to the idea of 'warmth' in food being attractive for its own sake, outside of the three qualities mentioned above?

Well, ask a breastfed baby Nature provides "warmth" in food from the time we are born, so there must be some reason for it. Even the hunter/gatherers of neanderthol times and even animals today eat meat when it was freshly killed (warm).

In colder months we eat porridge (1 cooked meal)
soup is often in a flask for packed lunches (2nd cooked meal)
A hearty casserole with dumplings makes a welcome home truly welcoming (3rd cooked meal)
Can't deny in the colder months those meals definately warm you up physically from the inside out.

Likewise, in the summer, when our bodies are hotter, I think it's natural to want/need cold foods.

xzibit

I am quite happy to eat cereal 3 times a day lol. I don't do that often, I'll eat warm meals and cold meals, but basically, as long as I get the nutrition I need and a good diet, I'm not fussed.
I wish we didn't have to eat, I generally see it as hassle lol, can't someone just invent a pill we can take that provides us with everything we need?

tiff

I bet you're very slim xzibit! I'm the opposite to you, couldnt imagine life without food

xzibit

tiff wrote:

I bet you're very slim xzibit! I'm the opposite to you, couldnt imagine life without food

lol, I think that if it wasn't for the fact I work in an office, I could get away with 2 meals a day, but sat doing nothing makes you think about being hungry lol. So i'll eat something to stop that, rather than enjoy it.

bud-miser

Queenie wrote:

Even the hunter/gatherers of neanderthol times and even animals today eat meat when it was freshly killed

This still doesn't stack up against the 'piping hot' requirement many people have for their food. Body heat in most animals is only around the 35-40C level and disappears rapidly after death. I'm sure that most of your 'hunter-gatherers' will have had an ambient temperature diet.

I hate my coffees and teas when they get even remotely luke warm!

Generally I find this quite a strange phenomenon and maybe someone with a medical/scientific bent could offer up an explanation.