Bear Lips

When a dog licks his chops, what part of the body is that?  It's his lips, right?  Today a friend generously gave us some bear chops to try.  A hilarious discussion ensued here about what, exactly, are bear chops.  One child looked suspiciously into the frying pan, thinking, I am sure, that she did not want to eat bear lips. (Personally, I have never seen lips with bones in them, at least not animal lips.) 

I marinated the chops in some balsamic vinaigrette for a couple of hours, then tossed them into the skillet.  (All that smoke is not representational of my cooking, not usually, not unless I am frying something.)  

The comments were such:

"It smells like pork and tastes like beef."

"I LIKE it!"

"Mmm, that's good."

"It doesn't taste like beef."

"Can I have another piece?"

"Interesting."

I have eaten goat before, and squid, and crayfish, but bear lips are the most unusual food I have ever eaten.

The pigs that we get our pork chops from must come from a different country.  I have never seen pigs with such big lips as the chops that are in my freezer.