Ringing out a hangover

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

Got a doozy? Here's how some local party animals deal

No matter how wretched you feel this morning, you may take comfort in the fact that millions of people around the world are equally miserable.

Many are thanking their lucky stars that they woke up on a couch, thanks to some loved ones, instead of in a gutter — a fate deserved by those who insisted, at 3 a.m., on one more round of tequila shots and another bottle of bubbly.

Now the question is how to get through today. So we queried a few folks, from people in the hospitality business to a guy at a steel stamping plant, to find out their secret hangover remedies. Several mentioned widely known and revered cures: greasy enchiladas; a cheeseburger; a little hair of the dog, especially a spicy Bloody Mary; and lots of fluid, whether water, Gatorade, Dr Pepper or something not so well-known.

But Sapa Gurbanov of Arlington, manager of Taste of Europe, a Russian restaurant in Arlington, came up with one way out of the ballpark.
Is there a cure?
So does any of this work? We asked Dr. John Josephs, a Dallas surgeon.

Question: Is there a cure for a hangover?
Answer: Nope, only time and fluids.

Question: Do sports drinks help?
Answer: Not really. They may help rehydrate you a little faster is all.

Question: What about energy drinks with all those vitamins?
Answer: Hangovers are not about a vitamin deficiency.

Question: What about inhaling pure oxygen?
Answer: Now, that might help.

Question: Does greasy food work?
Answer: Don't know why people crave it, but it does seem to make people feel a little better. But you'd probably be better off eating greasy food before you drank, rather than after, as it would slow the absorption rate of the alcohol and you'd at least get drunk slower.

"In Turkmenistan, where I come from, if we drink too much vodka, the next day you take one glass, but only one glass, of vodka — otherwise you'd just be getting drunk again — and we drink pickle juice." Pickle juice? Yep, straight out of the jar.

"Or eat something like cole slaw, anything that has lots of salt and vinegar, something juicy like that."

Joel Harloff of Dallas, chef at The Landmark at The Melrose, says to drink angostura bitters with seltzer water and lime juice, which will ease a stomach in turmoil.

And, "Eat some menudo. It's a great cure for hangovers. Traditionally, it's only made on Saturdays and Sundays in Mexico, the days someone would typically have a hangover."

Oscar Sanchez of Dallas, owner of La Calle Doce and El Ranchito restaurants, agrees.

"Menudo, it's the famous soup consisting of boiled tripe and is a well-known hangover cure. It's often consumed after a long night. The healing effects of the tripe and hominy are said to cure a sore head and upset stomach — for those who can stomach the menudo itself!"

He adds that his "favorite 'cure' is the caldo de pescado, my wife Laura's famous fish stew that we serve at La Calle Doce, and a Corona followed by a day of relaxation. But anything brothy and soupy that helps rehydrate you, along with a little hair of the dog, is good," he says.
Evans Caglage / DMN
Entertainment guru whit Meyers prescribes Squirt, if you can find it, and saltines.

Over at the Entertainment Collaborative, the force behind Gypsy Tea Room, Green Room and other late-night venues in Dallas, Whit Meyers, Norma Dickey and Brandt Wood weighed in with their well-seasoned opinions. Together they've probably logged a billion late-night hours and seen their share of foggy mornings.

Mr. Meyers says, "Eat a sleeve of saltine crackers along with Squirt soda or, in a pinch, Sprite will do; a really big glass with lots of ice. The sweetness kills the saltiness of the saltines, which are the only thing you can probably keep down if it's a hangover over 6 on the Richter scale. All of which is best imbibed while sitting on the floor of the walk-in [refrigerator] or in a snow bank."
Evans Caglage / DMN
One thing everybody agrees on: It's a good idea to drink a lot of water — before bed and the day after the party.

Mr. Wood offers this: "Start with good-quality libations and, of course, good company. If you are going to have a hangover, it should be to pay for more than consumption. Water, Advil, 8 hours of sleep, and a cheeseburger for lunch are the rest of the prescription."

For Ms. Dickey, there is no cure, only prevention. "I drink a big glass of water and eat a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich before I go to bed, and I always feel fine in the morning."

Feargal McKinney, Irish by birth, Dallasite for over a decade and co-owner of The Old Monk, The Dubliner and The Idle Rich, has remedies from the Old Country that still work wonders.

"Older people in Ireland drink a mix of half brandy and half port. It really settles your stomach. But mostly it's a traditional Irish breakfast, really a big fry-up with sausages, meat and eggs. Black pudding is really good too."

For those who want to know, "black pudding" is the Irish term for what we call blood sausage, which, like menudo, is an acquired taste.

"My favorite is kippers [smoked herring], very oily and salty. Nothing better for a hangover. And of course a little hair of the dog," Mr. McKinney says.

You'll feel better if you clean up your act, suggests Jason Fraser. But that's only the start of his daylong recovery routine.

Jason Fraser of Dallas, production manager at Custom Manufacturing Co., a steel stamping plant, points out that getting clean helps.

"First brush your teeth and shower — that's really important — and no smoking. Drink some water and go get Mexican food and one Bloody Mary. Then go to the movies. But if you have to go to work, make sure you stay busy because once you slow down, it's all over."

Catherine Spinnazzola, who lives in Kessler Park and is in the hotel business, says: "Start with a good Bloody Mary with lots of Tabasco, horseradish and celery salt and then — and this is crucial — go to Gonzalez Restaurant on Jefferson Avenue. Mexican food is what the cure is all about."

Stephen Saunders, a television commercial producer, eschews Mexican food, but has a very precise menu for his cure. One of each of the following: a bucket of Very Berry Raspberry Sherbet from Tom Thumb, a large supreme thin-crust pizza from Papa John's (with breadsticks and butter-garlic sauce), a 2-liter bottle of Dr Pepper, a comfy couch, a remote control with large screen television."

Then, "toss in many DVDs and cable TV. Unplug phone. Move only when absolutely necessary and ignore the world. Lie to yourself and promise you'll never drink that much again. ... ha!"

A. Martin, a computer consultant in East Dallas, used the opposite cure from Mr. Saunders in his college days.

"I would get up relatively early (9 or 10 a.m., which isn't as late as it sounds when you've really tied one on the night before) and go on a 3- to 4-mile run or drive to Cedar Hill to ride the 8-mile mountain bike trail. After successfully sweating out the alcohol from the night before, it's time to proceed to engage in the typical grease-laden meal and take a one- to two-hour nap. If I timed it out right, I would be up and ready to go by noon or 1 p.m."

Steven Thompson, a pastry chef who lives in Irving, recalls, "When I was in the Navy, I was a welder and used a kind of torch that used medical grade pure oxygen and acetylene to braze copper pipes. On those particularly rough mornings, we would breathe the oxygen to give the brain a little kick-start. It actually works very well. Just don't smoke for a while afterwards, or you go up in flames!"
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In vino veritas!