German Rollmops – Tasty Hangover Cure

The best way to avoid a hangover is to control your drinking. However, if you think that strictly limiting the amount of alcohol takes the fun away then there are other ways to deal with it. Hangover is a common problem people face when they drink too much in too little time. Of course, there are tricks like including snacks with your drinks and drinking slowly. Once you control your alcohol intake per unit of time, you chances of having a hangover go down.

If you find yourself ‘hung over’ the next day, what do you do? Well, there are plenty of options. In fact, it is interesting to see how people cure hangovers in different parts of the world. Rollmops is a German dish which mainly consists of the herring fish. It is a good hangover remedy and is tasty too. It is a pickled version of herring and is usually served with sour cream and onions.

This recipe is in use since many decades ago when better facilities of preserving fish were not invented. Salting or pickling the fish completely removes the water from it and lets it last longer. It was not food of the rich in those times but it is very much a luxury dish these days. Herring is a fish which is found mostly in Baltic Sea and North Atlantic Sea. Even when not used as a hangover cure, they salt the herring so that it lasta longer. It is a common practice to add salt to this fish at the shore itself after catching and cleaning it. They used the salting method to transport fishes to most of Europe centuries ago. Of course these days freezer compartments are used to transport the fishes.

The recipe for rollmops is simple but you need to prepare beforehand. You need herring fillets, cider vinegar, juniper berries, whole allspice, cloves, bay leaf, capers, mustard, onions, dill pickles, parsley and cold water. You need to soak the herring fillets in water overnight or all day and change the water at least once in between. Remove bones if any and pat them dry.

Now lay the fillets flat on a slab or board with their skin side facing the bottom. Spread some mustard followed by capers and onion rings. Cut the pickles and place on each fillet and roll. Use tooth pricks to hold the fillet roll on place. Now place all fillets in a flat bottom glass dish. For marinade, combine rest of the ingredients and boil. Allow it to cool and make a paste. Add this to the herring fillets and refrigerate for 5-6 days. You can garnish them with parsley.

If you have a night out with friends and family, you can prepare this tasty hangover remedy dish a week in advance. You may even want to invite your friends for lunch the day after the big night! With some preparation beforehand, the day after the big night out can also be enjoyed equally.