It happens both when stored in pyrex or tupperware.
Ingredients aren’t anything unusual; onions, garlic, hamburger, tomato paste, etc.
Tastes sweeter when fresh off of the stove, but has a more bitter taste when reheated as leftovers.
In: 159
I now have a… Phobia’s a strong word but reticence to try anyone’s “Bolognese” for exactly this reason, after growing up with my mom’s which had the same bitter problem. And again, only the spaghetti.
I think with hers it was an issue with fresh as well.
The flavours naturally meld together when everything is left together in the fridge. I have family members who will make pasta sauce a couple days ahead of time to allow this to happen intentionally because they prefer the flavours to be more intermingled. It gives the pasta sauce a more full flavour after the ingredients have time to mix and develop.
Pasta sauce is known to bring out iron of iron-based pans, which tends to be slighly bitter and metallic tasting, though in tupperware nothing significant can leach. It might just be the melding of flavors. If you could taste additives to the plastic, you’d be getting a whole lot more than is allowed.
[removed]
I can’t say I’ve experienced this reaction (pasta sauce always tastes better to me the next day, and not at all bitter). However, you mention garlic is in the ingredients. Overcooked/burnt garlic does get a very bitter flavor. It’s possible the hot, fresh sauce does a good job of covering this up but after it sits and the flavor gets absorbed into the pasta sauce this brings out the bitter flavor of the garlic.
Primarily, it’s due to oxidation, or where, over time, fats and proteins in the food interact with oxygen molecules in the air and become rancid – the same reason that oil or butter can get old and turn bitter, and even the same reason that wine eventually turns into vinegar. It’s also frequently identified in re-heated meats, where it’s sometimes referred to as “[warmed over flavor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warmed-over_flavor)”. In addition, as the food goes from fridge cold to reheated hot enough to eat, it passes through a warm region where that oxidation happens faster than usual, so (ignoring bacterial growth or anything like that) it’s like you set the food out for a day or two at room temperature – more of those fats and proteins are going to go rancid than if it stayed at fridge temperature.
It’s still completely safe to eat, and one thing you can do is add salt – not enough to make it taste salty, but just a tiny pinch. Salt can block your tongue from tasting bitter flavors (same reason some people add salt to coffee!) so a little bit of it added to the dish will suppress that bitter leftover flavor.
[removed]
Do you add olive oil? do you cook at high temps that could burn spices or tomato?
Sounds like you’re burning part of it in the microwave. Maybe add more moisture, and try stirring half way through, and maybe microwave it for less time. Also, make sure you put it away pretty quickly. If the sauce is sitting out in the air to cool, than can change the flavor. Once the temp drops below 160, you have half an hour to get it in the fridge before bacteria starts to breed. And once it’s cool, if you leave it out and uncovered, the air can also change the flavor.
It wasn’t cooled properly. It was hot for too long in the fridge and there compounds in tomatoes that turn bitter if kept warm too long.
Latest Answers