The Hunter’s Board (not)

The Wilder Kaiser region has long been on my list of places to visit, and finally I am here, looking to expand my knowledge of Tyrolean Brettljausen. Knowing nothing about the area, I have started with the obvious – taking a cable car up a nearby mountain. There are several cable cars available and all of them are actually on the other side of the valley from the impressive Wilder Kaiser mountain range. On the plus side, you always have a great view of the Wilder Kaiser. On the minus side, these mountains are heavily used for skiing in winter and therefore are totally fucked up with lifts, water reservoirs, children-oriented parks and uninspiring restaurants.

The Jägerhütte (literally, the “Hunter’s Hut”) is located slightly below the Hardkaiser cable car’s upper station, and one sees the cars passing by continuously. Apart from that, the view is actually very nice, much nicer than from the huts higher up the mountain.

Its Jagabrettl (the “Hunter’s Board”) is not cheap at 12+ euros, but leaves a very good impression at the end. The first impression was unfortunately spoiled by the industrially packaged butter and just as industrially packaged liver spread with an expiration date somewhere in the late 2020. The spread, when opened, smelled like cat food and probably tasted like one (though I cannot confirm that due to the lack of relevant experience). With some salt, black pepper and butter applied, and placed on a slice of fresh bread, the liver became much more acceptable, but eating it first was a good idea, as it cleared the way to enjoying the rest of the dish.

And the rest had quite a lot to be enjoyed. The obligatory Tyrolean Speck (totally recommended) was accompanied by two types of cheese (probably three but two tasted too similarly), some Liptauer, two kinds of pork salami (the smaller and harder one being by far the better), a lonely slice of ham and a few slices of game salami, probably made out of a wild boar. That last ingredient was the only one requiring some sort of “hunting,” unless the hunter had massacred a cow and pig farm, and frankly was not the highlight of the dish.

However, having finished all the cheeses, the meats and almost all the bread, I left totally relaxed and satisfied. Jägerhütte is absolutely worth the twenty minutes it takes to reach it from the cable car’s station.