To not understand the obsession with ‘hot meals’?

[LastToBePicked]

As in “kids need to have a hot meal”, “They haven’t had a hot meal today” etc

Is it just short-hand for a more substantial meal or do people think there is some magic about food being hot that makes it more nutritious?

Is, for instance, a tuna pasta bake superior to a tuna sandwich? Or sausage and mash better than ham salad?

@LastToBePicked that’s because school meals are crap so it’s not hard to get a meal as nutritious in a packed lunch.

FWIW my dcs had a packed lunch and it was warm too (thermos flask with chilli, pasta, curry etc…)

I find hot food comforting especially in the winter. I largely work at home now but I used to hate bringing in a salad to the office, for lunch, on days when it was colder than expected. I’d often go to Pret and get soup instead.

What gets me is that some people seem to think that if a child has had a ‘warm meal’ at school dunner then they shouldn’t have one in the evening hmm even if said meal at school will be small and no nutritious at all….
Same with nursery giving young children a ‘warm meal’ that is always a small portion but parents don’t dare giving them more because sureky they’ve eaten enough already. They’ve had a warm meal!!

Yes this exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. And also the reverse that a packed lunch + cold tea is something akin to child abuse.

Heat brings out the aroma of food, which makes the taste more distinctive. Think of a cold beef stew vs a hot one.

Cold meals are fine, but hot food generally tastes better and is more appealing.

Generally more satisfying especially in this cold weather. Salads and sandwiches don't cut it in these dark cold nights.

Interesting question.

On most days I have one hot meal because eating mostly cold food isn't that appealing. A 'hot meal' is usually something like pasta, an omelette or a piece of chicken.

@5thnonblonde

When I hear that phrase I hear ‘freshly cooked’ so I’d regard a lovely wholesome grainy homemade hummus and salad with a heel of wholemeal seeded bread as more of a ‘hot meal’ than oven pizza and chips

Maybe you do, but the many of the people that the advice is aimed it don't read foodie manuals and will just think (entirely reasonably) that it means a hot meal. So a bag of chips is fine. Or some beans shoved in the microwave.

It would help if the advice was given in ordinary English instead of code!

It depends what your children will eat and enjoy. We don't all love hummus and veg sticks enough to want it twice a day. Mine will eat more variety if it's nicely cooked. I'm limited with their raw veg intake.

A tuna bake will have some vegetables and some sort of white auvergnat with it.
Wish my kids ate white auvergnats, this is a stealth brag

@MeredithGreyishblue

It depends what your children will eat and enjoy. We don't all love hummus and veg sticks enough to want it twice a day. Mine will eat more variety if it's nicely cooked. I'm limited with their raw veg intake.

I'd agree with this luckily my kids are fans of carrot/ cucumber/ pepper sticks and hummus but you can't serve it twice a day.

@hotmeatymilk

A tuna bake will have some vegetables and some sort of white auvergnat with it. Wish my kids ate white auvergnats, this is a stealth brag

I was wondering if auvergnat was some posh version of béchamel

I was wondering too- what is auvergnat- is it bechemel?

The word 'meal' makes my toes curl. And 'hot meal' even more...

If it was just me I would live off of sandwiches.

@Housechaos

The word 'meal' makes my toes curl. And 'hot meal' even more...

A thousand times this. I can't quite pinpoint why.

@BurntTheFuckOut

It’s a plot to keep us women in the kitchen.

Jesus, paranoid much??

I totally appreciate hot food is often tastier/nicer, especially going into winter (in fact one of my main bugbears is my family faffing around while their hot dinner goes cold).

What I was getting at was the sense of “hot meal = good, cold meal = bad” that I often hear around. Lots of “Johnny just has toast of tea because he has a hot meal at school”. When the hot meal was probably jacket potato and cheese, or pizza, or fish fingers and chips.

I don't know if this is anything to go on but I feel it's less about the nutritional value and more of the comfort/looking after yourself.

I remember someone once saying to treat yourself the way you would a friend and that included meals - we are on the go a lot and if you think about how often we rush our breakfasts or skip them, lunch is always something thrown together or a premise sandwich often eaten in a canteen/office desk.

I was rushing around so often at night too that I forgot to switch off and would either eat standing up or pick at whatever I was cooking for my own child. Would I have made a friend eat stood over a kitchen counter? No I would have served something warm, with love and made time for it. Maybe pour a nice drink and really take the effort to enjoy the meal.

Meal times go back a very very long way and it has been a time of getting together and sharing, think the Christmas and thanksgiving meal traditions as well as banquets for the upper class and the royal feasts you read of in history documents and fairy tales. I don't feel that having something cold is less nutritious like a salad or a sandwich myself but do feel there is something in the concept of a hot nutritious meal served with love

It’s a plot to keep us women in the kitchen.

Yes, like all dads never cook for their kids

The phrase "a hot meal", perhaps depending on your background, can imply that care and time has gone into preparing a decent meal with overtones of 'warmth' for those you're cooking for.

Does my tits in. It’s bizarre.

DH can’t cope if he eats a hot lunch and gets all squinchy about dinner. But if we’re having a cold dinner for whatever reason he’d want a hot lunch, which is complicated because lunch for him is a synonym for “sad cheese sandwich”.

Because a hot meal is usually more nutritious with more variety and lots of hot cookedveggies

@seventyminutes kind of cross-posted, but you said it much better than I did!

As long as your child gets all of their nutrients then it doesn't matter.

Give them raw vegetables, cheese , and a raw potato. (Actually don't!!!)
Many raw veg are unpalatable and can't be absorbed by the body, either physically or nutritionally.
A pork chop is better than ham ( which is mechanically reclaimed bits of cured pork , mashed together.)
But no rice, pasta or potato is quite limiting.

So yeah, a cheese and lettuce sandwich is perfect! 🤔

Golly gosh, Look at me!
I always thought it related to ensuring that there was a phall curry waiting for them when they got home from school!
🤭

@Roselilly36

I wouldn’t say it’s an obsession Op, but when it’s cold a hot meal is much nicer than a cold salad/meal IMHO.

I never eat cold food or have cold drinks in the winter months. Lovely warm soup,bakes, casserole is so much nicer than cold sandwiches and salads-meh