Hangover Shmangover. 5 weird ways to kick that morning nastiness

Despite taking the pledge and swearing you’d never drink again after THAT particularly gluttonous night out, you did. You drank a lot. And now your stomach hates you, you feel limp and you’re worried that you may have permanently lost all form of hand/eye coordination.

Although many people swear by a hot, fatty fried breakfast, sugary Coca Cola or dry toast and Alka Seltzer to help kick a hangover, there are other, slightly more exotic options. Whilst they may not sound the most appealing, the following remedies are renowned in certain countries for both preventing and curing alcohol induced yuckiness.

Tuck in to any one of these, and if you believe the locals, you’ll be back on top form by midday.

Tripe soup
Ah, tripe. The favourite treat of many a granddad, and apparently most of Eastern Europe. Boil the tripe with plenty of garlic and fresh cream, and tuck in. It’s as simple as that, which is lucky because you’ll no doubt be unfit for anything any more complex. If it seems a bit bland and you’re feeling adventurous, you could also add an egg yolk and a dash of lemon juice.

Pickled herring
Katerfrühstück as the Germans call it, is created by wrapping a herring fillet around a pickled gherkin and a chunk of fresh onion. If nothing else, it’ll get rid of that horrid dry mouth breath that comes with a hangover, although I’m not sure which is the lesser of two evils; that, or a fishy/oniony/gherkinny odour emanating from your mouth.

Buffalo milk
“But where am I supposed to find a buffalo?” I hear you quietly mutter, reluctant to speak too loudly in case you set your head off again. Popular in Namibia, Buffalo Milk is actually not buffalo milk. It is, in fact, a mix of clotted cream, dark rum, cream liqueur, spiced rum and whole cream. As I write this, sober as a judge, that sounds pretty delish but all of this hair of the dog business is a brave move I think. Brave or slightly crazy.

Sicilian salami
I say ‘salami’, I actually mean ‘bull’s penis'. Sicily, the beautiful home of the Mafia and our lovely Editor’s mother is also home to another strange hangover cure; dried bull’s penis. Having never tried it myself I’m not sure if you just chomp on it like you would beef jerky, or add it to another dish. Either way, dried bull’s penis apparently does the trick.

Magic
If you really don’t feel up to ingesting well, anything right now, all is not lost. Haitians believe a nasty hangover can be cured with Voodoo. The cork that once stood between you and that damned wine that made you feel ill in the first place? Stick 13 pins into it. Problem is, you’ll probably need a lot of pins. And a steady hand. And the ability to count to 13.

You’re feeling better already aren’t you?