I've been wondering what happens to meat between the slaughterhouse and
the meat counter. Why? Well, here in France meat tastes completely
different than it does in the US. It's stronger flavored. It's also a
lot tougher. Now, I'm guessing that the meat is often from older animals
here, since shops will often indicate that the steak is from a "vache" -
a cow, rather than a steer, and I'm guessing that maybe this is a dairy
cow that's no longer producing and so gets sent to the butcher.

But recently a visiting US friend brought me some meat tenderizer.
(Aside: I am amazed that this stuff can not be found in French
supermarkets. If ever there's a place it's needed, it's here.) Anyway,
not only does the meat tenderizer make the meat more tender, it also
changes the flavor. Meat cooked using it tastes more like meat I was
used to in the US, where I rarely used tenderizer. So, is it possible
that something like tenderizer is used in US meat before it gets to the
supermarket?