Yeah, chilling chocolate bars is something that makes absolutely no sense to me. It hardly tastes of chocolate to me once it’s cold, too.
Or whiskey?
And refrigerating fruits only make sense if the fruit is so flavorless that the sensation of cold is more pleasant than its flavor. Or if the fruit is so sickeningly sweet that you want to dull the sweetness.
I’d also suggest, the reason we are used to room-temperature food is because most foods cool down quickly. Much quicker than a hot liquid in a cup.
Yeah, really. Why do you think 12-packs come in fridge packs?
I don’t think you’ll get any argument from me. But I just don’t have enough room in my fridge to fit a 12-pack in it. I have a counter-depth side-by-side fridge, so space is at a premium there. Soda gets counter space and there’s ice if you need it. But I don’t like my drinks super cold usually.
Read your post after this one above. Wine is stored in cellars which is a good deal cooler then room temperature.
Oddly enough, I actually do like my red wine slightly chilled.
Depends on the fruit. Apples are inferior when cold, as are berries. Cold peaches are terrible. Oranges are a different experience when cold. Canteloupe is better cold, and cold watermelon is delightful.
I was thinking of watermelon as an exception, but the watermelon we get around here is usually pretty flavorless as it is and chilling it just makes it even more so.
I like grapes (green), watermelon (I eat it salted), apples (usually honey crisp or granny smith), and oranges (navel oranges) better cold than room temperature. And these are pretty the only fruits I eat on any regular basis. I do eat peaches, but only canned ones in peach cobbler, so they don’t really count.
I do prefer room temperature chocolate, though, except in the summer when it melts all over the place.
Rather than just enumerating foods we like to eat hot or cold, it’s probably instructive to think about why we eat or drink things in the first place.
We eat food for nutrition, obviously, and secondarily for taste. We drink drinks sometimes for hydration…but often, specifically for the purpose of cooling ourselves down or warming ourselves up. Water has a pretty high specific heat, and it’s good at that job.
Coming in from the blizzard, you’re much more likely to be greeted with “my God you look freezing - have a nice hot cup of tea” than “have a nice hot slice of pizza”. After sweating it out in the sun you want a big drink of water to get your fluids up … but simultaneously you’re HOT so obviously you want it to be COLD water.
(Also, I think we can agree … those people who like chocolate in the fridge are way weird)
I don’t see how pre-emptive prevention of my chocolate melting is weird.