I will die on the hill that cold canned ravioli is a top tier comfort food

Went camping up near Lake George last weekend and forgot my stove fuel. Had a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli in my pack and just ate it straight from the can at room temp. My buddy looked at me like I grew a second head but honestly? That cold, soggy pasta hit harder than anything I could have heated up. Maybe it's the nostalgia of eating it as a kid after school, but I swear the texture is better cold. Anyone else secretly love this or am I just gross?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonp471mo ago

Yeah I've been there, forgot my camp stove once and ate cold beans straight from the can. Pro tip though - if you wrap the can in a wet paper towel and set it near the fire for a few minutes it warms up just enough without cooking.

rose_hart1mo ago

Cold ravioli is fine but calling it a "hill to die on" feels a little dramatic for canned pasta. It's not like you're defending a controversial life philosophy here, it's just noodles in sauce that came out of a can. Nothing wrong with liking it cold, plenty of people eat cold pizza or cold hot dogs and nobody writes a manifesto about it. The real question is why are we acting like room temperature Chef Boyardee is some kind of spiritual experience? It's a mediocre meal that worked in a pinch, which is exactly what it was designed for. Let's not pretend the texture is somehow BETTER cold, that's just nostalgia talking. You ate it because you were hungry and it was there, and that's okay without making it a whole thing.

the_margaret16d ago

Oh, absolutely. I once ate cold canned spaghetti on a road trip and told myself it was gourmet.