[RoseRodent]

By "natural taste" I mean is there any protein that has its own taste. I hear that some people can taste some difference between chicken and yoghurt, I certainly can't! My sense of taste is not very functional due to chronic congestive allergies so I tend to eat things that are as strong as possible, things that are so strong I accidentally burn the inside of my mouth with them. I don't like "hot" like chilli or anything, but enough garlic and pickled onions to make most people's eyes pop out Looney Toons stylee.

Obviously I can add garlic, ginger, certain amount of paprika, lemon, chives, all those kinds of things to my savoury proteins, but I'm interested to know if there is any protein food that actually has a taste of its own that you don't have to add stuff into it or if that's just the nature of protein that it's a bit tasteless.

[Nola Celeste]

Chicken's been bred to the point that it's pretty flavorless by itself. Sometimes that's a good thing, but other times...well, yeah, it does get a bit dull, doesn't it?

Most game meats have a more distinctive natural taste to them. Venison comes to mind, but wild waterfowl like goose and duck also have a stronger taste. Mutton also has a more pronounced taste. Of course there's always well-aged beef, too--no mistaking that for a chicken breast! Salmon and tuna also have characteristic flavors (unfortunately, they're flavors that taste the way cat food smells to me, but a lot of people adore them).

There's also cheese. It's a great source of protein and can have huge flavor, but comes with a fairly high fat load, too. If you tend toward small portions, though, cheese can really liven up a dish.

Your love of garlic made me think of one of my favorite dishes, chicken with forty cloves of garlic. Think I'll make some tonight.

[lazylioness]

hmm well personally I do not find protein tasteless at all. I am very happy with a good cut of beef with a bit of salt, pepper and olive oil thrown on the grill.

Chicken I will admit can be a bit bland. But its great with a little garlic and lemon juice

Unfortunately I cannot relate to your lack of taste, as I seem to have the nose of a bloodhound and can taste everything, all of the time LOL.

I do know however, that my fiancee was used to adding salt to everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. (he does the same thing with hot sauce) and for a while, when I cut out the salt, he complained that everything tasted the same. After about two weeks or so, he got used to it. He still adds Tapatio, Pico Pica, Crystal, and Tabasco (all DIFFERENT forms of hot sauce, and yes, apparently they ARE different LOL) on his eggs every morning, and depending on dinner to that sometimes too, but he notices subtle flavors much more now that salt is not being added to everything in crazy amounts.

Maybe try "cleansing" your palate for a week or so and see if that helps?