Several years ago our family was eating a large leg of lamb for Easter dinner, and after serving it, I set it on the sideboard, just behind me. A few minutes later, I heard a "thump" and turned to see our cat and the entire remaining leg of lamb being rapidly dragged across the living room floor, up the stairs, only to eventually disappear under our bed. The fast-departing leg was followed quickly by a yelling wife (mine) wielding a swinging broom with murder in her eye. She won (but it was a battle), and came back downstairs carrying the greasy leg, all covered with dirt and dust bunnies, of course. I suppose I would have helped her in the chase if I and our guests weren't so doubled over with laughter. Nobody wanted seconds.
Moral to the story: If a cat likes something, he'll find a way to get to it if you leave it out someplace. If he doesn't like it, it will stay forever where you put it and all the coaxing in the world will do nothing but make him crave something else he can steal.
BTW, any cat owners have a good way to keep your cat from killing the neighbor's birds? They have a cat buffet (feeder) right next to the wall between us and our male kitty Romeo keeps dragging birds in and getting feathers and blood all over. He wears two bells...don't help.