After watching the rugby this evening and having a few, I’m pining for a curry. Based on my experiences of kebab houses and curry houses after hours, I’d say I’m not the only one who likes a curry/kebab, either. But what exactly is it that is so attractive about the likes of curries, kebabs etc. that make them perfect food for a drunkard?
After getting a taste of a post-binge curry, it seems like the habit is hard to shake, but why?
Surely you mean tacos and burritos. That’s the idea after-drinking meal.
My understanding is that it’s a mix of alcohol stimulating insulin production. This chemically raises your appetite and these brightly lit shops attract you like moths.
You aren’t too bothered about what you eat, because you are intoxicated and possibly your brain is saying “Protein, Carbohydrate, Fat - brain, get the feet moving over there”
So, thats what gets you into eating food. Why specifically those things, is that generally they are very rich, nice smelling and (curries at least) visually appealing. They are also nearby and open around the same hours.
I personally think a bit of evolution is showing with Pub/Curry system :rolleyes:
I’m hoping somebody else will come along with some real science here, but I do think this covers the basics.
trmatthe - who is off for some herbs!
A brain full of depressant drugs (alcohol) needs an extra potent tasting snack. Which you prefer depends on where you grew up. I like a plateful of jalapenos with a few corn chips for crunch or else a heaping helping of radioactive-hot buffalo wings. Curry sounds OK, not great.
No, the way to finish totally abusing your system was this
[Moderating]
I’m going to assume the OP is asking about the nutritional qualities of curry and similar foods that make them attractive after imbibing. If this thread is to remain in GQ, answers should be confined to the more factual aspects of this question, as in trmatthe’s post. If it turns into “what my personal favorite foods are after binging,” it will have to stumble off to CS.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
convenience is one aspect. Curry houses and kebab shops were the establishments open late after the pubs had shut, and has been true for any town. The waiters in an Indian restaurant will often put up with the pretty rowdy behaviour of the post pub diner, whereas other places would most likely have already closed. It was a gap in the market that they filled.
In terms of the foods themselves, they’re salty, spicy, fatty meat. They’re easy to eat - no need for knife and fork and strongly flavoured My local town has a lot of fried chicken/kebab take aways, plus one very busy fish & chip shop - these tend to cater for the post club crowd, all are offering high calorie snacks. The curry houses etc tend to close around midnight.
It would be interesting to find out what the Georgian/Victorian drunk craved - I’m guessing it would be similarly strongly flavoured.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say ‘habit’. I think it’s just traditional to end up with a curry after an evening out, as far as I can see from my (somewhat limited) experience.
Pure opinion here, but I agree with LSLGuy…if I’m plastered, anything that wouldn’t normally make me go :eek: as it passed my lips is going to be bland, tasteless mush. What the flavor is doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s good and strong. It is for this reason that I keep pizza rolls, cayenne/habanero wing sauce, and Roland’s Homemade Thermonuclear Lemonade on hand at all times. Eventually my iron constitution will fail me, I’m sure, and when it does it’s sure to be spectacular, but I’m making the best of it while I can.
(Seriously, if you’ve never had wing sauce’d pizza rolls when you’re heavily buzzed, give it a try. Lovely stuff.)
Roland, care to share the formula??
Have to agree with LSLGuy that cultural factors play an important part in the particular food chosen. From what I’ve seen (in this thread and elsewhere), curry is a very popular choice in the UK, but not necessarily so much elsewhere. Around these parts, drunk people often go for kebabs, but I haven’t really seen them go for curries. Curry is very popular around here, but more as a white-collar lunch than a drunken feast.
Then why is it that people who grew up in an area which lacked curry or kebab shops still find them good to eat after a night of drinking? And why is it that when they’re in an area that doesn’t have any curry or kebab shops, they still crave fatty foods?
I suspect it’s not ‘cultural factors’ and really has something more to do with what’s necessary for the metabolism of alcohol, but I don’t know for certain and so I’ll wait for someone who knows more about nutrition to answer.
No, surely you mean grilled cheese sandwich or extra greasy gigantic pizza slices? After a night of drinking, nothing I crave more than the greasiest of the greasy.
As will I. But I can assure you that if I’ve no access to fast food, a hunk of cheese in the fridge is always mighty tempting.
Well yeah, I agree that the alcohol that makes them crave fatty foods in general, and hopefully someone will explain the biological reasons for this, but the particular kind of fatty food they go after is influenced by local culture.
As Sir Doris mentioned, I’m guessing that a large part of it is simply what’s open late at night in a particular locale. Why is curry so popular in the UK after a night out? Because UK curry houses are often open late. Why are they open late? Because late-night revellers there want curry.
I always kind of thought that the sodium has something to do with it…sort of like a natural defense mechanism when you’re dehydrated, eat something salty to make you retain water and make you drink more (water). The same types of foods are usually attractive the next morning—a greasy egg and cheese sandwich, for example—so it can’t be entirely about simple lack of inhibitions.
Seconded. I am intrigued.
For those of us not familiar with the dish what exactly is “a curry” and what is “a kebab”? The only curry I’m familiar with is powdery spice used in some cooking (no personal experience cause I’m not a fan of spices). And the only kebab I’m familiar with is bits of beef and chicken stuck on a stuck and grilled over a barbecue.
Seconded. By “kebab”, do you mean a spicy Balkan ground-meat patty (and if so, Rumanian or Bulgarian?), or is it just mean-onna-stick?
It just is embrace it, it’s your duty as a Briton