[Avodah] Preparing Food Before or on Yom Tov

[Prof. Levine]

The following is from RSRH's Horeb, page 91, volume 1.

 From what has been said in para. 171 it follows that the prohibition of 172
work on Yom Tov does not apply to the following cases:

(I) Any preparation of food which could not be done on the preceding
day.

(2) If the quality of the food is improved by its being prepared on
Yom Tov itself.

(3) All food preparations on Yom Tov which result in one being able
to use the food on the same day only.

The following is from the English translation of Shemiras Shabbos 
KeHilchasa at http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/cooking_yom_tov.pdf

One may cook and bake on Yom Tov, so long as one
intends to eat some of the food on the same day.

Food whose taste will not deteriorate at all if it is cooked
on the day before the Festival (for example, fruit soup)
should be prepared before Yom Tov.


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The question that comes to my mind is why is the example of fruit 
soup given.  After all, this is not such a common food and certainly 
not the mainstay of the average Yom Tov meal.  Why doesn't  the 
author give the example of chicken or meat?

I think that the answer is the following.  Fruit soup is a food that 
is eaten cold.  It is cooked,  allowed to cool, and refrigerated. 
Then it is eaten.  Since it is not reheated before being eaten,  its 
taste does deteriorate by having been cooked the day before.

Chicken, meat and many other dishes taste much better when prepared 
fresh shortly before they are served.  This is why the best 
restaurants prepare the food after the customer has ordered.  Hence, 
it seems to me that most food, whose taste does deteriorate if cooked 
before Yom Tov and then reheated on Yom Tov,  should be prepared on Yom Tov.

The one dish that comes to mind that tastes better after being 
reheated is stuffed cabbage.  (See http://tinyurl.com/9d5y342 
)  (Sometimes cholent tastes better the next day after being reheated.)

Of course,  when one can use electrical appliances in the food 
preparation which make the dish better and easier to prepare than if 
prepared "by hand",  then it seems to me that this sort of cooking 
should definitely be done before Yom Tov.  Thus it  seems to me that 
something like potato kugel, which is most easily prepared using a 
food processor, should be prepared before Yom Tov.

But again, most other dishes whose taste does deteriorate if prepared 
before Yom Tov and reheated on Yom Tov, should be prepared on Yom Tov 
as close to the serving of the meal as possible.

YL



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