December 12, 2001. Copyright, 2001, Graphic News. All rights reserved

How to nurse a sore head
By Margot Nesdale

LONDON, December 12, Graphic News: FANCY coating your armpits with lemon juice or rubbing a smelly onion on your forehead?

These are just some of the quirky remedies flying around for Christmas party casualties who wake up with a jackhammer vibrating in their heads and a strong desire to throw up. ŅCuresÓ to flush away the toxins that leave your mouth feeling like a sewer range from the German favourite of herrings pickled with mustard and juniper berries to the predictable Russian remedy -- vodka.

The Puerto Ricans favour an armpit lather of lemon and lime juice while the French prefer cafˇ et du sel -- strong black coffee with salt. The Japanese quaff green tea, the Danes take a sauna, and the Americans nosh Prairie Oysters -- a raw egg mixed with tomato juice, Worcester sauce and vinegar. But these remedies are a major taste-bud turn off and about as effective as the hair-of-the-dog myth.

Why not take the Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherÕs lead and head on down to D.R. Harris & Co. in LondonÕs St. JamesÕ for a £1.00 glassful of their ancient Pick-Me-Up. Purveyors of pharmaceuticals to the gentry since 1790, they have concocted a potent brew which apparently does the trick in 15 minutes. Nestled in the heart of gentlemenÕs clubland, they serve a rusty-orange mixture of alcohol, gentian, ammonia, camphor and vitamins. The 160-year-old recipe is so popular that punters purchase it daily after business lunches. 

The Ritz Hotel in Picadilly -- whose elite clients include John Hurt, Joan Collins, Tony Curtis and Joan Rivers -- offers two special cocktails to beat the hangover blues. Bar manager Bob Burton created The Hangover Square (£12.50 per glass) for queasy tummies: one part brandy, one part Fernet Branca, three dashes of Angostura bitters, and four parts of orange juice, topped up with ice-cold champagne. The Hangover Grand (£10.50 per glass), for pounding heads, is an equal blend of port, brandy and white Creme de Menthe.

For the less rich and famous, GrandmotherÕs Cures, an A-Z of herbal remedies, suggests rubbing a raw onion or vinegar-soaked cloth on the forehead. It says the sap of the common perennial mallow in a glass of water will ease the worst hangover, especially after a Ņnight of orgies and heavy drinkingÓ. (Young ladies in bygone days apparently dropped the sap into menÕs drinks as an anti-aphrodisiac if their advances were unwelcome). 

NealÕs Yard, specialists in natural remedies, suggests a more complicated infusion of camomile, balm, dandelion leaves, meadowsweet and yarrow.

Failing that, inexpensive over-the-counter products to relieve hangover symptoms include Resolve, AlkaSeltzer or Berocca, available at any high street chemist.
/ENDS