Funny Name, Great Taste, Bad Headache

One of my triggers, as you may know from a previous blog, is Montreal Steak Seasoning. When I wrote that blog entry, I had totally forgotten about another known trigger for me: Worcestershire Sauce.

First of all, what is it with me and triggers that seem to be based outside the borders of the US of A? Am I some sort of hyper-jingoistic migraineur? Does my ultra-patriotism protect me against internal migraine threats? If so, how do I get Canada and Great Britain to join my migraine coalition so that their seasonings get added to my “safe-to-eat” list?

And, secondly, how the heck to you pronounce “Worcestershire” anyway? I seem to be genetically incapable of actually pronouncing that word. Is it “war-shester-shire” or is it “wooster-shire,” or does the real answer lie somewhere in between. Every time I try to say it out loud, my tongue freezes to my soft palate and something mangled and unintelligible comes out. Luckily for you this is a written blog, and I can type the darn thing consistently and you get spared the shower of saliva.

My wife and I discovered that Worcestershire Sauce was a trigger relatively slowly. It started with some of my wife’s world famous burgers. It seemed that the second day after having the burgers, I would always seem to have a migraine. I started to think there was a pattern, but I only carried suspicions until after the fateful night that my wife made her own Party Mix.

Party Mix, for those that aren’t familiar is a mixture of cereal, pretzels and nuts, coated with a savory seasoning. Most of the time you buy it pre-made from the store, but my wife and I weren’t happy with the flavor from the store bought brands—it was way too subtle (unlike the two of us). So it was off to the Internet to find a recipe for home-made.

When she found the recipe, we found out the magic seasoning was, in fact, Worcestershire Sauce. Start with store bought Party Mix, coat it with a liberal dose of Worcestershire Sauce, spread it on a baking pan, and bake on low heat for a while to seal in the goodness. When you’re done, you have one of the best tasting Party Mixes on the planet. In fact, it is so good that once you start eating it, it is almost impossible to stop.

The night that she made that first batch of Party Mix, I think we wound up skipping dinner, and just ate and ate and ate the Party Mix. Yeah, it was that good. Two days later: raging migraine.

The tricky part about making the link between Worcestershire Sauce and migraine trigger was that the migraine actually hit about 36 hours later. If I hit my finger with a hammer and it hurts immediately, and I know that I shouldn’t do that right away. If I hit my finger with a hammer and it hurts a day and half later, I might not draw the same conclusion.

The other interesting thing about Worcestershire Sauce for me is that it seems to be quantity-based. The amounts of Sauce ingested seem to parallel the severity of the headache generated. I can tolerate relatively small amounts relatively well, with only a trace of a headache, but moderate to significant amounts can put me in bed.