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Comment by pbosko | Hacker News Reader

You should try importing tomatoes from Eastern Europe. They are still very tasty over here. :)

I was born in Romania, visited there less than two weeks ago, and now I am in the United States. This is simply not true at all. Tomatoes in Romania taste exactly the same as tomatoes in the United States (e.g. bland).

Even tomatoes bought from farmer's market are not much better because they don't use the tastiest varieties of tomatoes.

In the winter tomatoes have no taste. Real tomatoes are a summer plant. Ask your parents. ;)

I don't have to ask anybody, I have lived in Romania for 21 years. Summer tomatoes that are not specially sourced are just as crappy in Romania, Austria, and United States. Slightly better at the farmer's market though. I have also lived in rural Romania for many months at a time, in the summer, for over a decade, and have grown tomatoes myself.

The only time I ever got good tomatoes was at some tomato faire, or some special organic farmer's market (in the summer, of course). And every time it was outside Romania.

The idea that food in Romania is somehow unaffected by global economic development is a myth that has to die.

I was in Serbia recently. The tomatoes and cucumbers blew my mind. In the city or in the country, all were great. Seemed like every dinner started with fresh bread and a bowl of tomatoes and cucumbers. I didn't need the main dish, until they put slow cooked lamb or pork in front of me.

That's only because more people have summer houses there (it's a tradition in most/all Eastern Europe) and grow vegetables themselves, so it's easier to come by naturally grown ones. Buy generic tomatoes from a supermarket, and the they'll taste bland as everywhere.

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