In a world where were constantly told to eat less meat and be more responsible with the meat we do eat, eating nose-to-tail is highly encouraged. And when it comes to whole-hog cooking , Southerners are the masters.

We talked to four Southern chefs who shared their favorite underused parts of the pig , from trotters to ham hocks.

Skin, aka Cracklins

Cajuns have been going whole hog before it was a buzzword, James Beard award-winning chef Isaac Toups told HuffPost. Toups is well known for selling the most sought after cracklins in the South at his New Orleans restaurant Toups Meatery . Cracklins, also called grattons, are deep-fried chunks of pork belly and skin. If I could only eat one Cajun food for the rest of my life, it would be cracklins, Toups said.