Thank you for providing this insight into what type of a person Michael Symon is. It makes me even happier that I choose to patronize his restaurants knowing that he is a solid, thoughtful, generous human being.

"He's one of us" - pretty much sums it up :)

Definitely the bacon! Crisp it up, chop it up and make some delicious chocolates. Bacon & chocolate ... like peas in a pod. :)

Of course, my mom would be disappointed if I didn't mention her glazed ham we all devour at Christmas.

Wow, Symon would be proud. Lots of love for the hog - and plenty of prep ideas. Congrats to DW as the proud new owner of the cookbook. Buying the whole pig and enjoying every last bit of goodness is some serious pig passion.

How about the whole pig, as in a pig roast! That's my favorite way to enjoy pork!!

Belly, loin, tenderloin bacon...even jowl ( guancialle, thats wjat spaghetti carbonara is made from ) is very obvious choice ...but the most uder used parts can be very delicious if treat it right...pork liver van make delicacies country pate, pigs feet has a lot of natural gelatin is insanely delicious ..trotters..it just takes a lot of skill and knoglige to make it right..pigs head gives us head cheese..[igs tales love it smoked with glass of beer and pumpernickel rye ( just like they eat in some parts of europe )...ears has a nice cruch,,can be braised ..confit ..or added to a headcheese for texture and flavor..pigs blood ...blood rice sausage..." Radells " off e 156 has good ones....hope I boost you appetite..i'm drooling .:-) and not kidding !

A close second to the belly for me is the cheeks. If you're ever at a pig roast and they "present" the head at the serving table, take a knife and get under the skin along the jaw. The meat is so fatty and flavorful. Plus you get the added bonus of freaking all the little kids out at the party.

I am torn. Bacon is obvious, but my next favorite is braised pork belly (which is usually made into bacon - the fat just melts in your mouth and is SO tender). Its a ridiculously drawn out process of rubbing it and letting it set for a day (I usually use a cajun mix I make, coriander, cumin and cayenne with some sea salt and pepper), brining it for another day and then initially browning it and then cooking with a cup of wine, tons of garlic and shallots in dutch oven in the oven for 3 hours. spectacular.

Without a doubt, pork belly. I get mine from the West Side Market and cure and smoke my own bacon. It comes with the skin on, so I will cut that off and use it in soups or stews (especially good for flavoring chowders). Recently, I started brining the pork belly, seasoning with corriander and peppercorn and smoke it a la pastrami.

Though I'm tempted to say pickled pig's feet solely because no one said it yet, that would be a lie because that's seriously nasty.

Bacon has my vote. It single-handedly made the water chestnut 100 times more popular. And when it's glazed and coated in crushed pecans, well, that's hard to argue with.

Wow, my cold is even showing in my writing. I meant to say "part of the pig" ;-)

It's good to hear that Michael is such a responsive and supportive person. I am proud that he is from Cleveland. I too don't think there is a part of the big I don't enjoy. I love sausage, pork tenderloin and "pork chops and applesauce" :-). And I agree with what almost everyone has said here, "Everything is better with bacon" - from bacon wrapped water chestnuts, which I would never eat by themselves, to chocolate covered bacon. It's all just GOOD!

For cooking - I would have to say sausage. There are so many applications for it, and so many ethnic cuisines in which it fits right in - and so many varieties and flavors. Though, we (my husband and I) ate our Berkshire hog sausage as a simple burger!

As so many others have said - Bacon is also fun. We made Michael Symon's Chocolate Covered Bacon for an event we catered last September and it was a big hit.

My preference would have to be the entire thing as in a 24lbs Whole Suckling Pig.

Prosciutto
The Why: My 3 year old daughter and 18 month old son loves eating Prosciutto when I make eggs on Saturday mornings.

Makes all the clean up and effort to the store more than worth it.

The Spare Rib:

Easy to make good
Hard to make Great

Marinated and Spice Rubbed and slow roasted over a wood fire and finished with homemade barbecue sauce. Great because it lets you hang out all day by the fire with good beer and people who share the obsession of cooking

Hint: use 50/50 mix of mesquite and maple woods

Pork shoulder or "Boston Butt" seasoned, chopped up and roasted in the oven to make carnitas. The crunchy little bits are redonkulous!

I'd have to say my favorite part of the pig to cook is the pork chop. It's a tricky piece of meat to cook, as it is very easy to overcook and make it tough. I just love the fact that it can be prepared both savory or sweet, depending on my mood. And there is no overnight marination (is that a word?) required, so it's a quick meal. I have made pork chops with honey & pecans, apples & caramelized sugar, balsamic & pear, thyme & shallots, baked with tomato sauce, you name it. So many things to do with a pork chop, thick or thin, grilled, sauteed, or baked. The versatility is amazing. I must also add that it was incredibly hard for me to pick a favorite part to cook because I am a die hard ribs fan, but there really is only one way I like to cook ribs. The pork chop allows for more creativity, and is therefore my favorite part of the pig to cook :)

I'm not sure where it comes from but I like a good chop. 100 ways to win with the porkchop. :)

Since my teenage years I have been exploring the culinary world. I started slowly but my interest has grown considerably in the last few years (I'm in my mid-twenties). As time passed I have learned a great deal but most importantly, I have learned that in the culinary world there is always SO MUCH MORE to learn. I know I have hardly scratched the surface. That being said, I can fairly say that the delicious world of preparing pork is not one I have ventured into but would love to start! That's why I would like to get Michael Symon's cookbook. I know there is no better person in Cleveland (or the world?) to introduce me to the delectable world of pork and help me discover my favorie part of the pig to cook.

I love Michael Symon, love Lola and a friend of my boyfriend was an awesome bartender there up until a year or so ago. So, do I want this cookbook? I'd do quite a few things for it but since you only asked for what part of the piggy I love to cook and why, I'll put the kneepads away.
Pork tenderloin. Smoked in the Weber grill with Mesquite chips for 3 hours. Every time I make this it disappears almost as soon as I plate it. People who have shunned pork for years will try, "A taste, just a little taste. It smells so good!"
Also, I was a vegetarian for 6 years. How did my mother snap me out of it? By cooking bacon every single morning when I came home to visit from NYC. Diabolical, that little piggy, simply diabolical (and I don't mean my Mom, okay maybe just the diabolical part)
Are you going to the IX food show? Would love to know your thoughts on that.
Love your site, as well. Thanks for loving Cleveland food as much as I do.
Sincerely,
Susie
Cleveland Heights

Isn't bacon the only real choice? I mean, "everything is better with bacon", right?

My 4 y.o. is a self-proclaimed vegetarian AND Bacon eater :) Only meat he will touch.

pork shoulder slow-cooked for bbq pulled-pork!!

I would have to say the baby back ribs. However, my reason has nothing to do with me. Slow and low BBQ ribs are my wife's favorite dish. If I am in the doghouse, I know cooking some ribs will keep me from sleeping on the couch!

Bacon! Try some Firecracker Bacon at your next brunch: rub thick slab bacon with a blend of 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne. Bake on a rack (over a lined cookie sheet) at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. Ridiculously simple and extraordinarily tasty!

I want my baby back, baby back, baby back ribs. I even made these yesterday. But of course, nothing tops bacon. mmmmm bacon. I'm a food network addict and would love to try some of Michael Symon's recipes.

I'm lucky that my boyfriend loves to cook -- and I LOVE his pork tenderloin!

So, maybe if I win the cookbook, I can return his food favors. :)

I have a love-hate relationship with pork, probably a consequence of growing up with a Quaker mother who made pork chops and a Jewish step-dad whose family never quite got over the fact he married a Goy from coastal New Jersey.

Pork done right has such flavor - rack of pork, kind of a standing rib of porcine pleasure, is probably my favorite; fresh rosemary flavoring the demi-glace, ground pepper crusting the roast. You get the wonderful loin, tender and juicy with just a trace of pink (don't worry), and the ribs to gnaw on. Serve with either a hoppy beer (such as our own Burning River Pale Ale) or a flavorful red -- I like Excelsior Cabernet from South Africa, a bargain priced wine that drinks like a $20 bottle.

Bacon. No question.

It's so boring, but the first thing my mom ever taught me to cook was breaded pork chops. So those little buggers will always have a special place in my heart.

I love pork shoulder because it reminds me of the stew my Grandmother used to make!

bacon has to be the best thing to cook, though I love me some pork belly.

Mmmmm...bacon!

I haven't ever actually cooked with pig, I mostly do vegetarian food, but I'm a Clevelander and would love a copy of the book!

i'm still sad that i've never met him and liz - someday i tell you, someday.

as for my favorite part of the pig to cook - well that would be bacon. but to eat? that would be pork belly - om nom nom.

oh, and pick me!

Pork Belly is my favorite - because it's for bacon, of course!

I have the most experience and delight cooking with the shoulder. We love to cook it SLOWLY - and shred the final result. I use part of the shredded meat with some homemade vinegar-y BBQ sauce on a challah bread roll. The other part is used for carnitas. The sweet, tender meat goes well with freshly made tortillas and a bit of lime and cilantro. Good times!

Pork Butt

Rubbed & smoked over charcoal and hickory wood at 200°F-225°F for apx. 14-16 hours.

The combination of the crusty outer bark, the smoky meat flavoring, the rendering of the fat leaving a juicy, flavorful center makes this time consuming cook well worth it.

To perfect this gift from the Pork Heavens, shred it, top it on a freshly grilled kaiser roll with vinegar based cole slaw and smother it with a Carolina style BBQ sauce.

from the rooter to the tooter, I love it all!!

Something about roasted pork shoulder tastes amazing in the cold months.

I also like making pork tenderloin with roasted apples and fennel.

Definitely the pork butt. Roasted, pulled, and served with a spicy sweet BBQ sauce! Perfect summer meal!

Currently it has to be the ham hock. Fall and winter mean soups and stews in our house and the ham hock is the gateway to countless pork flavored dishes.

My favorite thing to do currently is to chop the meat after making stock. I like dress it with a homemade BBQ sauce and pickles to make a sandwich while my soup cooks.

Whatever my husband cooks for me! I probably like his butt the best. :)

Honestly, I haven't found a pig part I don't like. Growing up, every year for my birthday I requested a big ham dinner. More recently (as in two weeks ago), I had a Bacon Party! Got to love the pig!!

Pork Butt or Pork Shoulder. I love me some pulled pork BBQ

BACON.

There is nothing better on a late Summer day than a simple sandwich made with thick sliced bacon, tomato, lettuce, and homemade mayo. The simplest things in life are sometimes the best.

My mom has a killer roast pork tenderloin recipe: she starts by sautéing some diced apples, diced onions and sauerkraut in butter. She then takes the mix and spreads it along the bottom of a roasting pan, which she then puts a tenderloin on top. That gets seasoned it with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. She roasts it for 90 minutes and serves it with home made spatzle. Nothing better on a cold Cleveland evening.

I recently met Michael Symon at a fundraiser for my work - just a total gentleman. He is indeed a great representation of our city.

My favorite part of a pig to make is the pork loin.

I remember the first meal my wife and I cooked together, back when we were dating, was a roasted pork loin. We had a great time making this dish, and I ended up in the hospital with 3 stiches in my hand, because I put a knife she bought me through my hand as I was carving it.

To this day, everytime we have the dish, my wife reminds me of that night.

I like the slow-cooked pulled-pork barbeque sort of meal.....usually shoulder or butt I think. It just falls apart and is so juicy! Some good cole slaw on the side...tastes like summertime and cookouts. Yum.

pork belly...you can't go wrong! :)

Hmm,
I'd have to say Berkshire chops with pickled chilis, like michael serves at Lola...yum.
And second would be skin. Great in sauce.