The average person might associate the word "pig" with bacon, pork chops, ham, crown roasts or even Miss Piggy. To me, it's all about the lechón, which is a Spanish term for roasted suckling pig.

Cue blaring salsa music, the intoxicating smell of roasted pork and a salivating crowd ready to pounce on smoky, salty, juicy meat. In my Cuban-American family and culture, a lechón means it's time to party. Every Cuban family has their own lechón recipe. The Italians have their marinara sauce, we have our dry rub.

I recently survived Goya Foods' Swine and Wine, a South Beach Wine and Food Festival event, where I experienced hog heaven.

Nearly two dozen chefs battled it out to be the winner of the coveted 18-karat Piggy Choice Award given to the cook with the most succulent hog.

I caught up with two of the competing chefs, Goya's Executive Chef Fernando Desa and Chef Ryan Nielsen of Bongos Cuban Café and Larios on the Beach, to get pointers on how to become a lechón master.

Nielsen says hogs have, at times, had a bad reputation as a food source because of their religious taboos and association with uncleanliness.

"Once pigs were seen as bottom feeders, but now they are better regulated," said Nielsen, who ended up winning top honors at the event.

Nielsen says that due to pork's versatility, leanness and, not to mention, deliciousness, more high-end chefs are starting to cook with it - especially heritage breed pigs.

First, Chef Desa says you've got to find a superb swine.

"You want to look for a young pig between 34-40 pounds," he said. "The smaller pigs are better because the meat is tender. That will be enough to feed around 100 people at 6 ounces per serving."