The most beloved cut of meat to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the foreleg, the foreleg of a sheep. He had been poisoned through the foreleg, and he believed it was the Jews who had poisoned him.
كان أحب العراق إلى رسول ﷺ الذراع، ذراع الشاة، وكان قد سم في الذراع، وكان يرى أن اليهود هم سموه.
Reported by Abu Dawud (3781, 3780), Tirmidhi in Shamail (161), and Ahmad (3777, 3733) - and this last wording is his - all of them via Zuhayr bin Muawiya, from Abu Ishaq, from Saad bin Iyad, from Ibn Masud who said, then he related it. Its chain is hasan because of Saad bin Iyad Thumali, for he is a narrator whose hadith is hasan. Zuhayr bin Muawiya heard from Abu Ishaq after his memory had declined, but he was corroborated, Israil bin Yunus corroborated him in Ahmad's version (3778).His saying "the iraq" is the plural of irq, meaning the bone that still has some meat left on it.As for what is reported from Ayesha, who said, "The forearm was not the meat most beloved to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but he could only find meat rarely, so he would hasten to it because it cooked the fastest," this is daif. It was reported by Tirmidhi in his Jami (1838) and in Shamail (172) via Fulayh bin Sulayman, from Abdul-Wahhab bin Yahya, from Abdullah bin Zubayr, from Ayesha, then he related it. It contains Abdul-Wahhab bin Yahya bin Abbad bin Abdullah bin Zubayr, whom Hafiz said in Taqrib, "acceptable," meaning when corroborated, otherwise his hadith is weak, and I did not find a corroborator for him. Moreover, the text of this hadith contradicts what is in the Sahih, "The meat most beloved to him was the forearm."Likewise, what is reported from Salma, mother of Rafi, is not sahih, that Hasan bin Ali, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Jafar came to her and said to her, "Prepare for us some food from what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to enjoy and liked to eat," so she said, "My sons, you would not desire it today." He said, "Yes, prepare it for us." So she got up and took some barley and ground it, then put it in a pot and poured some oil over it, and crushed pepper and spices, and served it to them, saying, "This is from what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to enjoy and liked to eat." This was reported by Tirmidhi in Shamail (180) and Tabarani in Kabir (24/299), both via Fudayl bin Sulayman, who said, Faid, freedman of Ubaydullah bin Ali bin Rafi, narrated to us, he said, Ubaydullah bin Ali narrated to me, from his grandmother Salma, who said, then she related it. Its chain is daif because of Fudayl bin Sulayman. Likewise Ubaydullah bin Ali, of whom Hafiz said, his hadith is weak.A note, the phrase "Ubaydullah bin Ali narrated to me" is missing from the printed edition of Tabarani. Salma, mother of Rafi, was a companion, and she was the nursemaid of Ibrahim son of the Prophet ﷺ and the wife of Abu Rafi, as well as the Prophet's ﷺ servant and cook.Likewise, what is reported from Ibn Abbas is not sahih, that he said, "The food most beloved to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was thareed made from bread, and thareed made from hays." This was reported by Abu Dawud (3783) from Muhammad bin Hassan Samti, and Ibn Saad (1/393) from Saeed bin Sulayman, both from Mubarak bin Saeed, who said, my brother Umar bin Saeed informed us, from a man from the people of Basra, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, who said, then he related it. Its chain is daif due to the unknown identity of the man from Basra, and Abu Dawud faulted it for this reason, saying right after citing the hadith, "And it is daif."A note, Hakim reported it (4/116) via Muhammad bin Shuja Hadrami, who said, Mubarak bin Saeed informed us, from Umar bin Saeed, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, in this wording, dropping the man from Basra from the chain. Based on its apparent form, Hakim graded it sahih. Ibn Asakir reported it in his Tarikh (4/241) via Hasan bin Arafah, from Mubarak, in this wording, from Umar bin Saeed, from Ikrima, and he faulted it, saying, "This is how he said it, from Ikrima, without mentioning anyone between them, but others reported it from Mubarak with a man from the people of Basra inserted into it."Likewise, what is reported from Anas is not sahih, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to enjoy thufl. This was reported by Tirmidhi in Shamail (177), Ibn Saad (1/393), Ahmad (13300), Bayhaqi in Shuab (5924), and Hakim (4/115-116), all of them via Abbad bin Awwam, from Humayd Tawil, from Anas, who said, then he related it. Hakim remained silent on it, but it contains a flaw that Bayhaqi clarified, namely that Abbad differed from others in making this hadith raised to the Prophet. Hammad bin Salama and Waheeb bin Khalid both differed with him, saying, Humayd informed us, from Anas, who said, "The food most beloved to Umar was thufl, and the drink most beloved to him was nabidh," thus making it stopped at Umar rather than raised to the Prophet. This was reported by Ibn Saad (3/318) and Bayhaqi in Shuab (5925). Bayhaqi said, "This is more sahih than the one before it," meaning more sahih than the raised version.As for thufl, it is said to be thareed, and it is also said to be what remains of food.