A colleague of mine who grew up in Greece claims that the food in the United States is not as fragrant as in Europe. I don’t know how to argue either way here, I certainly had tomatoes with no flavor at all on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
I also don’t doubt that mass produced food tends to be quite bland everywhere, and local produce can bring out the terroir in any food more easily, most often to its advantage.
So I blatantly lied when I claimed that the Ultental was unremarkable. Its cuisine is quite remarkable. For instance, there was (is?) a local butcher who carried all kinds of interesting meat that had grown up locally. Yes, I know, but what would life be if we wouldn’t sin once in a while.
Then there are the local herbal teas with promising names like Gletschereis (Glacial Ice) or Tannenduft (Fir Smell). These were among the most intensely aromatic herbal teas I have ever tasted.
They were so good that we had to mail-order a truckload of them after we returned to Germany.
When I revisited the photos from the area about a month ago, I became curious whether these teas would still be available. And yes, thanks to the internet, one can not only find them but also order them (via Germany). And yes, they are still as fragrant as I remember them from over 15 years ago.
The Inner Frame 