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?

Couldnt give a shit as long as they eat. I personally prefer hot meals sensory wise (i also drink a lot of tea and little water for this reason too)

in my culture if I gave my children sandwiches, or other cold meals everyday whilst they were at home I would actually be considered a bad mum, so I suppose culture does have a impact

@Parkingt111

I'm indian and as a rule of thumb we always have hot meals, my mum feels sorry for my daughter that she has a packed lunch that isn't warm, shes told me to even ask the dinner ladies to warm her food up for her! most of the other Indian parents I know consider sandwiches as snacks, and their children eat a full hot meal as soon as they are back from school

Same here I still don’t feel as full eating a sandwich as I do with rice/potatoes. But then again a Tesco meal deal isn’t the same as a properly made sandwich is if

Love salads in the summer usually with fish based protein. Can't face it in the winter. A bowl of soup hits the spot for lunch and meat or fish with vegetables in the winter months for dinner.

Didn't Jeremy Clarckson attack his colleague because the food available to him wasn't hot?
I do think many people are weird about having it. Some insist on a hot meal every day and some insist on no more than one hot meal a day. It's rubbish.

I would find it much harder to get vegetables into my (not even young) kids if they didn't have a hot meal.
Pasta sauces, shepherds pie, lasagne etc can hide a selection of vegetables whereas there's not that option with cold food. DD eats cucumber, both eat raw carrot. Neither will touch any other sort of salad vegetables (lettuce, radish, beetroot, spring onion, sweetcorn, avocado, tomato etc)
DD would live of carbs given half the chance, DS hates sandwiches and would always choose to have soup or leftovers for lunch.

I think a hot meal is more comforting somehow, especially in the winter months. Also the cooking smells make it far more appetising than something cold, plus eating something hot generally takes longer so makes for a more leisurely/sociable activity.

I eat a lot of nutritious, varied cold dishes, but I’ll have cooked many of the components first before assembling (meat, tofu, cous cous, noodles, etc.). Cooking usually gives you access to a wider range of different foods; however the temperature at which you eat it isn’t particularly important.

I work in a school and the quality of the school meals is very poor, (although they sound fabulous when you read the menu). If I was able to, I’d be ensuring my children had something nutritious in the evening as well. As pp have mentioned, it’s usually easier to slide more food groups into a fussier child through homemade soup or pasta sauce than something cold.

I think hot meal stands for a proper meal,in a sense of a healthy nutrious meal.However,I agree, a cold meal can be very nutrious and a hot meal can be just a load of fat and no veg.I personally prefer hot meals in winter and tons of salad in summer.

A pork chop is better than ham ( which is mechanically reclaimed bits of cured pork , mashed together.)

Not if it’s off the bone from the deli counter?

Personally I find hot food more filling (and also to warm you up).

I was musing on this today, last night I had 2 boiled eggs with toast, it felt more satisfying than an egg sandwich.

@LastToBePicked

Loving the historical/cultural explanations of the hot meal obsession -they make a lot of sense!

And I'm thrilled to be a white rat in your personal laboratory @LastToBePicked! I look forward to your PhD on the funny little ways of hot meal obsessives across cultures down the ages.

Today lunch bacon Bagel dinner salmon with rice and vegetables, OH and I don't fancy salad

I think a hot meal is especially important in autumn and winter. They are usually more filling and bigger- which is what growing children need and I think is especially helpful on cold days.

Unless it was roasting hot outside I’d always make sure my DS had one filling hot meal (at least) every day.

He’s not a huge lover of sandwiches and picnic things, whereas I know he’ll polish off a bowl of chilli con carne, a roast or curry and rice, so I make sure that’s the type of thing we have.

I prefer hot food and so do my children. I find it more filling and it warms me up. In the summer I'm not so fussed though.

My DS (17) is obsessed with this hot food concept, he doesn’t think any other food is a proper meal. Even salad in summer is only a “proper” meal if the meat/fish is warm on the side.
I must say, people’s general knowledge about nutrition is appalling & contributes to the obesity & diabetes problem in the U.K.

Tonight is sausage, mash and veg (plus gravy). I’d rather my family ate that than a cold sausages, potato salad and carrot batons.

I don't get the hot meal thing either. I've read some replies to your post. I never have the need for hot food. If I've been out in the cold all day I don't crave hot food all of the sudden in response

My in-laws are Chinese and can't cope with salad at all - if there's no rice and/or hot soup, it isn't a meal as far as they're concerned

Sorry, I'm with the hot meal crowd. If I don't get 1 hot meal a day I'm seriously grumpy, same for kids. Unless it's boiling hot weather. Two hot meals a day is a real win.

Hot meal devotee here particularly in the winter months. My dad would consider reporting me to social services my kids were given a sandwich for dinner!

Well..I live in a very cold country and our children at nursery/school/us spend a lot of time outdoors. It’s nice with a hot lunch.

(all food is freshly cooked and hot, and free at nurseries/schools anyway, but I get the hot meal thing!).

Personally I’d sometimes rather have a hot cup of tea and warm toast than cold food.

Some foods that are very good for you would not be as easy to eat or palatable served uncooked or cold. Its far easier to eat loads of cooked veg in a hot soup, curry or traditional dinner than to plough through the same amount in a cold salad. Spinach springs to mind.