In speaking with a fellow at work, we began to discuss foods from other countries. The most surprising statement he made was:
“You really wouldn’t believe what chicken is like in Europe. Here in America, the processing plants inject chicken breasts with water to make them look plumper. Overseas, they really don’t do that. It’s more like the consistency of beef.”
Is this true? Having been a sheltered American all my life, I can’t speak for other countries.
I lived in France and ate probably a hundred chickens. They tasted like chicken. They looked like chicken. They had no resemblance in any way to beef.
Chicken tastes like chicken in the UK, Ireland, Greece, and Italy too. Maybe I just got the Americanified chickens.
Do European chickens taste EXACTLY like a chicken from Stop & Shop? No. Neither do the eggs in Europe taste the same, nor the potatoes, nor the bread. But they never tasted anything like beef to me.
No, your friend is full of it and you can tell him I said so. I have eaten dozens of chicken breasts and chicken dishes in Europe and they taste like chicken. That’s it, just like chicken, not beef.
I never noticed a huge difference in chicken between ths US and Europe.
Ham, however, is a different story. American ham is slimey and rubbery compared to French ham, in particular. Anybody know why French ham – even the imported stuff that you can get in a few stores in the US – is so much better?
Now that you mention it, I’ve had better luck cooking chicken in the US than in Japan. It seems to come out more plump and juicy. Of course the difference could be attributed to other factors besides water injection.
The taste is the same, of course. Except for some name brand breeds (?) in Japan that have stronger (and IMHO better) flavor.
Because you’re talking about two different types of hams. Jambon, Prosciutto de Parma, etc. tend to be dry cured, whereas the cheap ham you are probably getting at the grocery store is wet cured. Go get a Virginia country ham and see if it’s that much different from the imported stuff.
They do seem a bit less plump to me. (And I do mean a bit - not a lot - less plump.) I have no idea if that’s because American farmers supposedly inject water or because they are a different breed of chicken over there. But they taste like chicken and have the consistency of chicken. They are nothing like beef.
Where I live you can buy free-range, cornfed chicken in the supermarket which are smaller breast fillets than the other standard brands, but the taste and the texture are noticably superior.
The meat is a little firmer I believe, because the chickens are allowed to move around outside as opposed to being stuck in a cage - perhaps that’s what your friend means? But it’s the only chicken I buy, both for the great flavour and the fact that the chickens are in general treated better.