The Importance Of Room Temperature
Today, I'd like to discuss the importance of room temperature, approximately 68 degrees Fahrenheit (about 21 degrees Celsius). How many times have you dropped a steak right out of the fridge into a pan to sear? How about trying to fry a cold egg? Ever snack on cheese right out of the cheese drawer (which is what I call it) and wonder where all the flavor went? Maybe why it won't melt? It didn't have time to wake up before you selfishly devoured it. It went the way of your charcuterie's texture: it never had a fighting chance. The 30 seconds it takes you to remove your lunch from its cold environment approximately half an hour before eating it just may be the difference between a lunch scarfed and a lunch enjoyed.
Or maybe I'm just happy that it warmed up enough to snow in NYC and that's why I'm all about the room temperature today. Regardless, I've been good lately about not eating an unpleasantly cold refrigerated lunch. There's just nothing satisfying about it. So here are some packables to prepare ahead of time and let un-chill for enhanced flavor experience:
- Rice balls
-
All manners of pasta salad, particularly when dealing with whole-wheat -
Cold sesame noodles (I realize this changes their official title to room temperature sesame noodles) - Stuffed grape leaves
- Any of our fruit-friendly lunches
- Anything featuring brie or other soft cheeses
- Seriously anything containing cheese and fruit at the same time
- Respectable deli meat-based sandwiches
- Respectable cured meat-based sandwiches
- Hummus
Here's what else is great: even the twitchiest food safety inspector would say leaving your lunch out of the fridge for 30 minutes before eating won't land you in the hospital, even if your lunch was a humongous vat of suspicious-looking potato salad (otherwise known as everyone's favorite food poisoning at a picnic culprit). He might even take your advice.
More practical lunch wisdom on Food Republic: