'It brings you back from the dead': Caldo de costilla is the hangover cure Colombians swear by
Forget greasy spoon breakfasts, the Colombians have got your hangover covered
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Your support makes all the difference.When you’re hungover and feeling rough, people recommend everything from a full English breakfast to a full-fat Coca Cola.
But residents of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, swear by one thing: a soup called caldo de costilla.
The broth is simple, containing beef ribs, potatoes, onions and coriander, and maybe a little sweetcorn, but is famed locally for its ability to clear the worst hangovers.
“It brings you back from the dead,” one local told Munchies, while a stall owner called Maria Alicia Rubiana said: “There’s no great secret. Big portions, good meat, and getting it served quickly.”
A bowl costs the equivalent of about £1.60, and is widely regarded as the best way to clear the head by inhabitants of the party capital.
It is often topped with a range of ingredients, from tangy lime juice to chopped onions, or even aji – a spicy vinegar condiment.
It is then typically washed down with a type of sugary weak coffee.
Locals say the fatty liquid helps to restore dehydrated fat cells more quickly than anything else, and enlivens and rejuvenates the palate.
Across South America, hangover cures that people swear by are generally liquid based.
In Peru many slurp leche de tigre (tiger milk – the citrus liquor leftover from ceviche), while in Brazil shrimp and coconut milk stews are favoured.
There are varying recipes on how to make caldo de costilla, but generally ribs are put into a water pot and slow-cooked with spring onions, salt, potatoes and garlic until the beef falls apart.
The local cuisine comes highly rated; celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was blown away by the food on a trip to Colombia, saying: “It’s ludicrous this place exists and everybody doesn’t want to live here.”
Luckily, no special ingredients are essential to recreating the dish, so next time you’ve had a few too many on the town, look to the Colombians for hangover cure inspiration.
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