The irony in that is humans can't really taste protein since we're not traditionally carnivores until relatively recently. If you don't believe me, try boiled egg white without seasoning, salt, or butter. Or unflavored protein powder.

What people like on meat is the fat and the texture they associated with it eating it growing up.

I know this, because people around here would hunt deer and not like it too much since it was very lean. They'd have to put it in stews or made ground meat with it, mixing it with bought fatty cuts of beef.

Talking of which, the supermarket meat people like is very far off the mark from average hunting meat in other ways. Animal is never old which adds it's own shitty flavor. Isn't on a wild diet, which adds it's own distinct flavor. Etc.

When I hunted or fished, it wasn't unusual for me to dip the cut of meat I wanted to cook into buttermilk for a day or two, to make it taste less "gamey".

So much for meat just tasting good.