I bought a silver tip roast from Chofetz Chaim. It had the same ‘weird Israeli taste’ that I detect with #5 and #6. Entrecote and brisket are fine. Do you know what I’m talking about? is it something in the animals’ diet?
For the most part, the cattle that is raised for beef in Israel – whether it came from Israel or South America – has more grasses in its diet than grain. This definitely impacts the flavor of the meat.
Meat in Israel is allowed to be injected with as much as ten percent water by weight (you have to look on the label). So the water will have a flavor that affects the meat.
The meat from South America is frozen and shipped and then stored frozen for weeks. This too can affect the flavor of the meat.
The only real solution is to acclimate yourself to the meat available here. If possible, based on availability and budget, buy fresh Israel-raised meats. Avoid meats that have had water added, and make sure you are seasoning your meat enough. Have a look at some of my spice blends for some ideas.
My (15-year old) daughter cooked a silver tip – #4 – roast last night for Shabbat using Marc's suggested method. I bought it from Shufersal that morning. All I can say is 'WOW'! We'd never tried it before but using Marc's method made it so easy – and so tasty.
I'm so glad!
Yuck!!
Which is the yucky part?
Its only legal to inject water into frozen meat, so that won't be true with the fresh stuff. Also, Some frozen meats ALSO have gelatin or other proteins injected as well so they can inject more weight without totally ruining the structure of the meat. That for sure effects the taste.
Israel is one of the only country's that allows these things, and it's because kosher meat loses weight after being salted, so the state of Israel allowed meat exporters to inject things to offset the revenue loss. Otherwise no one would sell to us (supposedly).