Interviewer: Do you have any special hangover cures you can recommend? 

GM: Promise not to judge me? It’s a little strange. 

Interviewer: Promise!

GM: My friend taught me the method some time ago. After my 20th birthday, I woke up so hungover that I wished I hadn’t been born at all. My friend, who was in a similar situation, suggested a method his dad had taught him that never failed to cure him. Here is the recipe: you take the cold pickle jar from your fridge, drain the pickle brine, mix it with sparkling mineral water, and add one shot of vodka. That’s it. You drink the whole drink in small sips, and you’re cured.

Interviewer: That sounds like it might just work. 

GM: It totally does! I don’t know whether it’s the electrolytes in the pickle juice, the carbonation, or the hair of the dog, but this concoction took me from a walking corpse to a semi-functioning human, so I can’t complain. 

Interviewer: Wow, I will make sure to try it next time I find myself in a similar situation. 

GM: You should, and you know what? The taste isn’t even that bad. I actually kind of like it. 

Context:

The informant is a 22-year-old male from Georgia. He is a student at University College London, and he has been living in London since he was eighteen. He is a social drinker and utilizes this cure method after particularly heavy nights of drinking. The origin of the recipe is unknown past the dad of the resplendent’s friend.

Analysis: 

Hangover cures are examples of folk medicine. Hangover cures such as this one are passed down through social networks rather than formal medical authority. It can also be noted that they are more prominently passed down between men. Cures are a natural extension of drinking culture, and they therefore must exist all around the world in variation. The performative and sensory aspects of this practice additionally add merit to them being a folk practice. The making of the drink, the strange appearance, and the strange taste and texture are all part of the performance.