This can be subjective of course, but generally speaking it is accepted that fresh food tastes better. What exactly happens in the food that makes it lose taste after it has been frozen?
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Freezing is not simply “make the stuff cold”. There is an entire science around how this has to be done to best preserve outcomes after defrosting.
The major culprit are ice crystals. If something is brought to frozen slowly, large ice crystals tend to form. These crystals break through cell walls (all living things are made of cells). When defrosted, this releases a lot of liquid (and flavor) that was encapsulated within those cells.
So this is why large scale frozen food processing uses techniques like flash freezing to minimize this outcome. Recipes also have to be adjusted if things are to be frozen. These techniques are seldom used at home.
Then our enjoyment of food is, in large part, olfactory. And this typically means volatile compounds – things that evaporate and dissipate fairly quickly. Cooking and heat releases these compounds and is likely one factor why freshly cooked food tastes better. Frozen foods will likely have lost a fraction of these volatiles.
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