How long is a piece of meat?

This morning, as I prepared to burn my usual morning cheese & ham on toast, I was struck by how important appearence is to how much you enjoy something. This line of thought was triggered by the ham, thinly sliced from my local deli and nicely wrapped in a plastic sheet. Originally these ten thing slices existed in a large rounded lump, I presume, reconstituted and reformed from smaller lumps of meat as I’m pretty sure pigs don’t grow in that shape. Now if I had to eat directly from that lump, cutting off mouth sized pieces, then I would probably feel a vague sense of nausea. Worse still the thought of biting directly into the bulbous ham lump makes me feel sick to the stomach. Luckily I’ve already eaten my breakfast as I write.

So then what happened? The lovely lady at my local deli took this lump and sliced it thinly, about 1mm thick, then put it into greased paper. The ham is still the same ham, but now I can happily go into my fridge, grab a slice and put it between a couple of slices of bread to make a sandwich that can really be enjoyed. Definately not the same as eating the large gelatinous lump. That simple transition in terms of presentation and also volume, means that I now have something I really want.

Then there’s a third stage – the slices of ham are a bit too large for me to make cheese and ham on toast without the ham hanging over the edge of the bread. So to rectify this situation a slice of ham is taken, ripped raggedly into strips and then placed on the bread before a slice of cheese is added. This simple action creates ham that is emotionally beautiful, more natural and, yes it’s true, tastes better. There’s a fine line though, if a strip is pulled off that isn’t of the same proportion as a wide piece of bacon then it starts to feel more like that earlier lump of ham again. Unnatural and less tasty, even once it can’t be seen through the melted cheese.

So what have I learnt from this? Well aside from never to enter a ham eating contest if they require you to eat it straight from the package, it also demonstrates the importance of presentation. The first bite is with the eye, literally in this case. Taking something basic and packaging it in the right way can make all the difference. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the personal hygiene products market, no longer can you buy just a simple block of soap coloured peach or pink and wrapped in clear plastic. Now, probably the same block of soap, but coloured clear or a murky translucent brown, will be wrapped in thick brown paper tied with a simple, modern bow and have be labelled with retro print block style type. This simple addition of a few cheap ‘ingredients’ will transform the soap from 50c to $3 with no problems, and probably more if you sell it in the right boutique. Plus they make great birthday gifts.