PreTeena by Allison Barrows for December 03, 2017

Story time:

When my dad was in the army, the food in the soldier’s mess became so meager that it got to the point where the baloney was sliced this thin. The men started a revolt; when the captain came in and told them to settle down or it’s off to the stockade, one got up and said: “We welcome that- we will get better fed there.”

The captain did some investigating and discovered that the cook had been selling the troops’ food on the black market.

Why so thin?

My mother used to say that she wanted to be able to read a newspaper through a slice of Krakus ham. This was when we went to a butcher shop for all our meat. I don’t think the slicers at the local grocery meat dept. would be so accommodating.

I prefer my ham to be sliced thick. I hate thin sliced hams.

This is how potato chips were supposedly invented, according to legend. A customer at a restaurant kept sending his fried potatoes back, complaining that they were sliced too thick. The exasperated cook finally sliced the potatoes paper-thin and fried them to a crisp. The recipe was a success.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_chip#History

Obviously; Mrs. Keen never worked in retail otherwise she would be more considerate.

I never have a problem when asking for very thin slices. I noticed that people who ask for thick slices are sometimes disappointed that they are too thin. I guess it all depends on the store getting to know their clientele.

And, yes, one or two of the very thin slices, arranged artfully on one half of a slice of bread, taste better, in my opinion, than a thick slab of the same deli meat.

The poor butcher needs a microtome for her cuts.

The thinner the slice, the longer a pound will last. Also explains why everyone is so thin! I want my slices thick as a pencil so if need be I can fry them. I only get bologna.

My local grocery store deli seems to have only 1 setting- – – - MEDIUM.

I’m NOT sure if it’s the setting on the slicing machine, or if the clerks just don’t listen to the requests.

Either way, sliced thin or sliced thick seem to have only one meaning- -- MEDIUM.

To me you want very thin slices you have to pay for it in time, labor and difficulty or do it yourself.