One of my favourite quotes of all time is from the comedian and writer W.C Fields. ‘It reminds me of my travels in Afghanistan,’ he once said. ‘We lost our corkscrew and were forced to live on food and water for several days.’
Luckily I keep several corkscrews around the house, so when we hosted our friends Joan, Ardella, Jo and Johnny from our writing group Chalk the Sun we managed to avoid old W.C’s predicament.
- The morning after the kitchen was a disaster zone.
Feeling a little dusty the Sunday morning afterward, Carmen and I needed some hangover food. Some people swear that a fry up breakfast is the ticket for a hangover cure. Others say bananas, or vegemite on toast. Even hair of the dog with a Bloody Mary. But I had other plans for our hangover food.
I’d read up on how to make The Reuben, a classic New York sandwich you can get cheap almost anywhere in the Big Apple. It’s simple and delicious and dirty. Perfect hangover food to knock up in the kitchen.
- The Reuben contains Sauerkraut – pickled cabbage. You have been warned.
I switched the grill on full whack, threw two slices of bread into the toaster before chopping up some salt beef and warming it in a saucepan with a dash of American mustard. The toast popped and I buttered both slices, piling the mustardy beef on top, followed by sauerkraut and a slice of emmental cheese.
These went on a tray under the hot grill – then I put on two more pieces of bread in the toaster. When the slices under the grill were done I took then out and laid a few pickles on the melted cheese. Then I spread some more mustard on the second round of toast and whacked them on top. Slice in half and eat. Job done; hangover cured. Well, enough to at least read the paper in bed without dying.
- Salvation is at hand!
