As anyone who has read my blog knows, I have found serious pleasure in the delicacy of pork products. This penchant for pork has only increased over time - until this week. While in the kitchen of the restaurant I work at the Sous Chef disposed of a pig's head right in front of me. Seeing the obvious horror in my face he looked me straight in the eye and said "What? You can eat it's belly but you can't look at his face?" Visibly shaken, I spent the rest of the evening pondering his very poignant comment regarding my recent elevation to pork fiend, and I decided it was time that I give a pig my respect. It was time I cooked me some pork belly.

After calling every grocery store and butcher (apparently there are only Kosher ones) on the North Shore, I finally had my old friend at Poeta's Food Market (520 Greenbay Road, Highwood) on the case. Being that a butcher must buy the entire belly, approximately 10-12 lbs, he needed to find someone who wanted the 8-10 lbs of excess. To his surprise, that same day a woman called looking for some pork belly - and suddenly, I was in business!

Now, I have had pork belly just about every single way this month alone making the second hardest part of this whole project deciding how I would cook it. Should I turn it into a corned pork belly Reuben as Mindy Segal does at Hot Chocolate? (1747 N. Damen, Chicago) Should I brine it and use it for sandwiches as they do at C-House and on Alton Brown's pork belly episode of Good Eats on the Food Network? No. I will marinate and braise it as Chef Giuseppe Tentori (Boka and Perennial) did for last night's March of Dimes event, and hopefully make the most out of the two lbs of pork belly I now have in my possession. This slab of belly complete with the pink skin of the piggy I have repeatedly forgotten was always attached to that luscious belly.

I will admit, I got teary handling the belly on my own. Ok fine, really teary. As it sits in the basement refrigerator of my parent's home marinating in an Asian influenced concoction I still can't shake the guilt. The question is, when I see it all tender and crispy skinned and lacquered with sauce -will I even remember this moment? I'm not sure because its still marinating, but a very wise Chef told me the following: "It's just pork. If you think about it rationally, it was a pig rolling around in its own (insert favorite synonym for feces) a few days ago". How appetizing.

**Above, is a delectable piece of crispy pork belly topped with Corn Nuts (yes, like from White Hen Pantry) and served with a tasty plum compote from the new menu at Graham Elliot (217 West Huron)