Three Underrated Cuts of Pork:

Collar. Getting your grubby hands on a good pork collar usually comes down to knowing the butcher who will keep the collar separate from the pork butt (shoulder) subprimal. This marbled cut roasts up into one of the most beautiful eating experiences that can be had between snout and tail. If you’re patient, get a good charcuterie cookbook and turn it into coppa. If you’re hungry, proceed as follows:

You’ll need a couple of two-to-three pound boneless collar roasts; tie them off, season aggressively with salt and pepper, sear in a hot skillet, then transfer to a covered baking vessel (your favorite Le Creuset Dutch oven is great, but Pyrex and aluminum foil works just fine) into a 325 oven for 2.5-3 hours. If you’re feeling froggy, throw a fistful of fresh thyme and a few cloves of garlic in the vessel too.

A cake tester should pass easily into the collar when it’s done; if you use a thermometer, get it to at least 205F. From there, you’ve got options. Snip the strings and go to town with tortillas and salsa verda and curtido; or hoagie rolls with pickled carrots, cilantro, nam pla and spicy mayonnaise; or even burger buns with celery seed coleslaw and Stubb’s barbecue sauce.

(Discard the thyme. Smear the garlic on some toasted baguette. Reserve the fat and juices from the pan for cooking your next batch of white rice.)

Belly. Pork belly has been so overrated, so ubiquitous for the past two decades that it’s now dramatically underrated. I highly suggest making your own bacon. Use the recipe in Polcyn and Ruhlman’s Charcuterie. Any roommates or family members should be prepared for mortal combat should they desire a taste of it.

Ham. Ham is, oddly, both the name of the primal cut and the finished product (the same cut from a cow is called the “round”, and you will never hear anyone ask for round-and-cheese sandwiches or country round biscuits). On a hog, the ham is the entire upper leg of the animal between the hip and the knee.

Ham has recently bumped turkey off the Thanksgiving podium at my house. You can cure your own ham, but why would you? Buy a tasty, spiral-sliced number from the store and follow the instructions. Big hit. Spend the time you save not fussing over the turkey to make some five-star buttermilk biscuits, or some grits and greens. Grrrr this post is making me hungry. Grits and greens: PHENOMENALLY underrated.

Two Things to Drink While the Pork Collar is Roasting:

Aperol Spritz: No new ground is being broken here, but can you really resist a gleaming, glistening goblet of 2oz Aperol, 3oz cava or prosecco, and 1oz club soda (with an orange slice) poured over ice, in an oversized wine glass, on a May afternoon? (Or a May late morning?)

Lillet Blanc: perhaps tilted more toward industry professionals, and especially if you have some orange slices left over after making Aperol Spritzes for others. Four fingers of Lillet Blanc in a Collins glass; add ice and an orange slice. Quenching and restorative in front of a hot stove. Legend has it that this was Michael Tusk’s shift drink of choice once upon a time.

One Inescapable Truth of Working In Restaurants for a Living:

You will frustrate and disappoint the people who love you the most in order to delight complete strangers. I, for instance, am writing this in a rush before going into service on Mother’s Day. As I said, inescapable …