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The following is from RSRH's Horeb, page 91, volume 1.<br><br>
<font size=3>From what has been said in para. 171 it follows that the
prohibition of 172<br>
work on Yom Tov does not apply to the following cases:<br><br>
(I) Any preparation of food which could not be done on the preceding<br>
day.<br><br>
(2) If the quality of the food is improved by its being prepared on<br>
Yom Tov itself.<br><br>
(3) All food preparations on Yom Tov which result in one being able<br>
to use the food on the same day only.<br><br>
The following is from the English translation of Shemiras Shabbos
KeHilchasa at
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/cooking_yom_tov.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/cooking_yom_tov.pdf</a><br><br>
One may cook and bake on Yom Tov, so long as one<br>
intends to eat some of the food on the same day.<br><br>
Food whose taste will not deteriorate at all if it is cooked<br>
on the day before the Festival (for example, fruit soup)<br>
should be prepared before Yom Tov.<br><br>
<hr>
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?<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.)<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
YL<br><br>
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