Don’t give this culture a lukewarm reception | Scotland

Sorry, but I’ve a new front to open in the culture wars, this time over the temperature at which food should be served. My pet hate has always been lukewarm food. I prefer my meals potentially mouth-scalding, as a matter of taste and common courtesy. Serve hot, and the consumer has the choice as to how fast they eat, and can calculate the risks of burning themselves. If they prefer cooler, they can wait — or blow on it, for all I care.

At home I insist on plates heated until they’re impossible to hold without a tea towel, and the food still bubbling as it is served. Cold plates are rude, psychologically unwelcoming, a failure of hospitality.

Tea and coffee are the same. They