# You cooked what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205 "2001-10-03T16:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/1 "2001-10-03T16:05:26Z")
I got home last night, to the most wonderful smell. I can smell corn bread, and what’s that Yams, I think. Some kind of pork dish too! Cool! I don’t get to eat pork much anymore due to High BP. It must be a treat of some kind. Hey honey, what’s for dinner? Oh I’m making the boys pigs’ feet for cleaning out the garage. Pigs feet? Pigs feet as a treat. Well they asked for it, she says. But pigs feet? I can’t get past that. Pigs feet? My buddies Howard and Gerald are close on my heels. Hey something smells good, did you make enough for us. It’s pigs’ feet, I tell them. Cool, they go next-door and return with plates. But wait, its pig’s feet. Yeah, I haven’t had any since I visited home last, from Gerald. I love pigs’ feet man, from Howard. Pigs feet? Look I’m no stranger to southern cooking. My Moms from NC and my Dads from Tennessee. I’ll eat pork all most any way it comes. Bacon, sure. Pork roast, great. Hell I’ll even eat chitlins (that’s chitterlings for you Yankees). But damnit I draw the line, oh right above the knees. I don’t eat pigs’ feet, or chicken feet, or the feet of any animal. Oh honey, I forgot to mention, I know you don’t eat pigs feet, so I made you a pork chop. My wife’s so wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/2 "2001-10-03T16:11:56Z")
Now if you could just talk her into bacon-wrapped, sausage-stuffed pork chops. Of course, that’d like push your BP into stratospheric range. Forget I mentioned. Pig’s feet? _Pig’s_ feet? Pig’s _feet_? **Pig’s feet**? Bleah. I tried 'em once, never again. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/3 "2001-10-03T16:20:39Z")
Once, in a fit of pregnancy-induced hormonal madness, my wife, who grew up on a dairy farm, insisted that I go to the store and buy… brains. And cook them for her. mmm… braaaaaaainnnnnnssss… not. She came to her senses before I was done cooking them and made me throw them away, but still. Brains. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/4 "2001-10-03T16:22:19Z")
The words “pigs feet” have now lost all meaning for me. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/5 "2001-10-03T16:43:14Z")
**stuff** , lemme get this straight. You’ll eat chitlins (ulp!), but not feet? Coming from a Southern family myself, all’s I can say is, that ain’t right. Gimme a herd of feet before you put one inch of fat boiled gut on my plate. Your mileage may, and given the adamance of your post - does - vary. Full credit to the Mrs. on the backup entre, though. Cool on you both. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/6 "2001-10-03T17:01:04Z")
My mom made Pork Hocks one time. Same thing as pig’s feet, I’m sure. It was the tenderest, most tasty pork I have ever eaten in my life. She didn’t tell me what it was until later. Sneaky old lady. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/7 "2001-10-03T17:11:28Z")
How exactly does one go about eating pig’s feet? There’s gotta be a lot of bone in there. Do you just gnaw? Do pigs have toenails? ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/8 "2001-10-03T17:17:29Z")
**UncleBeer** You’re not right dude. Making fun of someone who loves pork. **FallenAngel** Just give me a bottle of hotsauce and a pot of chitlins and stand back. Of course my wife’s pronouced them off limits. ☹ In my defense, I didn’t know where they came from when I aquired the taste. But “pigs feet”, leave out all doubt. **Ginger** I’m not sure, but I always thought hocks were that small peice on the end of hams. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/9 "2001-10-03T19:25:24Z")
A hock is just above the foot. It is equivalent to your ankle. From my dictionary: > [@](#): > > hock (hok) noun > > **1) a.** The tarsal joint of the hind leg of a digitigrade quadruped, such as a horse, corresponding to the human ankle but bending in the opposite direction. **b.** A joint in the leg of a domestic fowl similar to the hock of a quadruped. > **2)** A small cut of meat, especially ham, from the front or hind leg directly above the foot. And a small piece from the encyclopedia which says pigs have hooves (I guess that’s a kinda toenail): > [@](#): > > Hog, domesticated mammal, of the swine family, raised in almost every part of the world for food. Hogs belong to the order of even-toed hoofed animals (And I always thought they belonged to the order of tasty, bacon-filled mammals). The terms _hog_, _swine_, and _pig_ are often used interchangeably. Hogs are probably descended from two wild swine, one species from Europe and the other species from Southeast Asia. They were perhaps first domesticated in China about 9000 years ago, and later in Europe. They were introduced into the Americas by Christopher Columbus and Spanish explorers. > > The adult domestic swine has a heavy, rounded body; a comparatively long, flexible snout; short legs with cloven hooves; and a short tail. The thick skin is partly covered with coarse bristles. Like all swine, domestic hogs are quick-footed, intelligent animals. > > Hogs have a short gestation period of about 114 days, and they produce large numbers of young each time they give birth. They are omnivores, and they scavenge a wide range of foods. For centuries they have also been used as a primary source of edible fat, although they are currently bred more for meat as the demand for fat has declined. > > An estimated 90 breeds are recognized today, in addition to more than 200 varieties. The major breeds differ in coloring, growth rate, the number of young produced, mature body size, and ability to graze. Most commercial hog production in the United States is based on crossbred animals. > > Hogs are adapted to temperate and semitropical climates and are found in many different areas of the world. In the United States, the swine industry is concentrated in the Midwest in the corn belt. The leading states are Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Nebraska. > > Scientific classification: Hogs belong to the family Suidae of the suborder Bunodontia in the order Artiodactyla. They are classified in the genus _Sus_. The European wild swine is classified as _Sus scrofa_, the Southeast Asian wild swine as _Sus vittatus_. ---
**Author:** ![Pucette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/278dde/32.png) [@Pucette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucette)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/10 "2001-10-03T19:40:30Z")
Getting back to brains - if you like bone marrow, you’ll like brains. Most people obviously don’t once they find out what it is… My brush with things foot-ish happened one fine Sunday morning at dim sum. I asked for a plate of some yummy looking meaty stuff, and it turns out that I really need glasses, because it was actually chicken feet. Now I don’t necessarily have anything wrong with eating chicken feet, but apart from the batter, there was NO MEAT. My friends were trying really hard not to laugh at my mistake, as I put on airs of knowing exactly what I’d ordered. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/11 "2001-10-03T19:41:04Z")
Pigs feet and hocks and chitlins (what no hog jowls)…boy, am I glad to be Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cooked-what/85205/12 "2001-10-03T20:08:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \* > \*\*How exactly does one go about eating pig’s feet? There’s gotta be a lot of bone in there. Do you just gnaw? > > Do pigs have toenails? \*\* By the looks of the remains from last night dinner, I’d have to say they were bony (boney?). Kinda look like an archeological dig. **Adam** are those the same as Hog Maws?