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16 January 2007

Sammiches: diagonal cut or perpendicular bisect? [More:]
And why? Use the other side of the paper if necessary.
Diagonal! They look pretty that way, and if you have more than two slices, you can line them up and they look even cooler.
posted by pieisexactlythree 16 January | 14:55
bisect perpendicular-like. It takes me longer to eat them that way.

I have no idea why
posted by gaspode 16 January | 14:57
If the sandwich will be on a plate, diagonal, it's pretty. I often don't cut corner to corner, but slightly askew. It's more imaginative and special looking.

If it's in a lunchbox, perpendicular cut. Sometimes I use the dreaded plastic sandwich baggie, and it's easier for my children to retrieve if it's perp.

god, I need to get a life. :)
posted by LoriFLA 16 January | 14:58
It depends on the sandwich.
For something with stable innards such as a grilled cheese or that will have fun corners to bite off: diagonal
For company, sometimes quarters.
Mostly, i don't bother.
posted by ethylene 16 January | 15:00
Mostly, i don't bother.

Yeah, me neither. Especially for something like PB&J where you have to eat around the edge of the sandwich, getting all the crusts off, until you are left with all the delicious peanut butteriness to eat. mmmmmm.
posted by gaspode 16 January | 15:03
Concentric squares.
posted by mike9322 16 January | 15:03
Why dirty a perfectly clean knife?
posted by eamondaly 16 January | 15:07
It's funny, they do seem to get eated all up faster when cut diagonally. I hadn't realized that. I think that the shape is just conducive to rapid munching; more acute angles.

Of course if the bread is really rounded on top and you're splitting a sandwich with someone, it's fairer to do the perpendicularity.
posted by George_Spiggott 16 January | 15:09
Always diagonal! Unless you are trying to coax a toddler to eat, in which case do them into triangles or sticks or X shapes or whatever works.
posted by mygothlaundry 16 January | 15:10
Like LoriFLA, diagonal and askew, never corner to corner. It drove my kid batshit.
posted by mischief 16 January | 15:14
Diagonal, because it's the law.

And what's all this about splitting your sandwich with someone? George_Spiggott, are you now or have you ever been a member of the communist party?
posted by taz 16 January | 15:18
Diagonal. Perpendicular bisection makes Santa himself vomit with rage.
posted by ROU Xenophobe 16 January | 15:20
Diagonal, of course. I've even trained the mister to do it that way. He apologizes when he forgets.
posted by deborah 16 January | 15:20
If it's for me, straight up. If I'm preparing it for someone else (aka the kids) and therefore care some about presentation, diagonal.

I prefer cut to whole, on the whole, because it's easier to hold. (You don't dirty a clean knife, you use the same knife you used to spread the mustard. What? No mustard, you say? You're dead to me. (Yes, even on PB&J (No, not really.)))
posted by danostuporstar 16 January | 15:20
This is a damn good question.
posted by iconomy 16 January | 15:36
It's perfectly reasonable to split your sandwich with someone if they're splitting their sandwich with you. And they're different sandwiches, like one has strawberry jam and one has apricot jam.
posted by George_Spiggott 16 January | 15:37
Depends on what kind of sandwich. Lunch meat gets the straight cut. Filling-type sammiches, tuna or chicken salad, go diagonal.
posted by jrossi4r 16 January | 15:40
Cutting sandwiches is just wrong. It's luncheon mutilation. Uncut sandwiches are happier, less likely to carry disease and much more likely to please their consumers. I hope this settles it.
posted by wendell 16 January | 16:01
I never cut them, as usually I've got sooo much stuff in them. ie. egg sammidge = eggs, mayo (my own mayo, not storebought), cucumber, tomato (both cut thickly), celery, and lettuce and/or bean sprouts. Oh, and dried basil and pepper and maybe salt. See, it gets so big that the integrity of 1/2 a sammidge isn't really enough to hold it all together, especially if it has to travel (say, to work).
As for pbj's and the like, nah. It's all going to be a chewed mush in about 3 min anyways, so why bother?
posted by Zack_Replica 16 January | 16:07
I made a great one for lunch today. I took two very thin corn tostado shells and put a vegan burger in between, plus some soy dressing, ketchup, a slice of avocado, and some lettuce. It was SO good.

I couldn't cut it tho. It was way too brittle and crunchy. Plus it was round. So the normal rules of sammich slicing do not apply.
posted by iconomy 16 January | 16:18
I like hoagies. Real men don't cut hoagies.
posted by paulsc 16 January | 16:34
I've heard that men with cut hoagies are forced to resort to more elaborate sandwich practices, like using pitas and buns.
posted by taz 16 January | 16:41
Are you saying that pitas are somehow deviant or bad, taz???

(not a dig at gfm, just too good to pass up)
posted by gaspode 16 January | 16:44
I just eat a handful of cold cuts and a few slices of bread and then drink directly from the mustard trough.


I'm not much for cutting, unless it's for a hero, so I just cut it however the person I am making it for wants it to be cut.
posted by Divine_Wino 16 January | 16:50
I'm not saying that, gaspode, but studies have shown that a higher percentage of men with cut hoagies in all 3 ethnic groups tend to compensate with other sandwich wraps. If they were getting all the flavor they needed, they wouldn't need to do that.
posted by taz 16 January | 17:01
taz, that doesn't take into account the use of condiments, which tends to mask the differences between the two experiences.
posted by George_Spiggott 16 January | 17:08
Right, because if you use truffle mayonaise on your sandwich, you're a pansy.
If you tend to reach for grainy mustard, you're manly. If you prefer butter, you're Canadian.
posted by LoriFLA 16 January | 17:16
Why does a thread about sandwiches ALWAYS have to turn into an argument about guys' hoagies? Just once, I'd like to be able to talk about a nice tuna pita or even fish taco without people comparing them to hoagies.

Damn.
posted by jrossi4r 16 January | 17:18
Can't we just agree that mutilating hoagies without their consent (hot hoagies or cold hoagies) is bad?
posted by iconomy 16 January | 17:20
I too do the LoriFLA method of cutting diagonally and slightly askew.
I meant to add to the crust or no crust post: Sometimes I cut only just the bottom crusts off.
posted by getoffmylawn 16 January | 17:22
Oh, so mutilating hoagies is bad but somehow cutting pitas is fine now, huh? So much for equality between baked goods!
posted by gaspode 16 January | 17:27
I want a cheese steak sandwich with white american cheese, uncut please.
posted by getoffmylawn 16 January | 17:30
You guys jest, but at most New England sub shops, you have to ask for a hoagie to be cut, and 99% of those asking are female.

I, for one, never believed it was just because women's hands are smaller.
posted by paulsc 16 January | 18:01
Divine_Wino Hearts Jrossi4r.
posted by Divine_Wino 16 January | 18:13
studies have shown that a higher percentage of men with cut hoagies in all 3 ethnic groups tend to compensate with other sandwich wraps


wait. there are THREE ethnic groups now? that totally renders my college education useless.

posted by brina 16 January | 18:50
The only reason to cut them is to make them more manageable or attractive, sometimes for the extended pleasure of others.
i don't know about you guys, but sometime a foot long or more is just not easy to handle, and maybe i don't want to deal with all that all at once, just as i've started getting into the business of really getting into a sub.

That's just me.

Until recently, i just didn't wasn't really into all that thick white stuff and was going the way of the pita, torilla, and just plain open faced girl stuff.

Now someone tell me why in the empty headed post coital state, "dear asshat" starts playing in my brain.
posted by ethylene 16 January | 19:00
that's tortilla and i think i know the answer to my question.
posted by ethylene 16 January | 19:02
Discussions like these certainly give me insight into what the community-here-apart-from-me deems as relevant, and I will certainly use this as a learning experience.

The fact is that you people just aren't listening to the data that's being provided. The way that sandwiches are cut is a deeply personal choice, and it's one that should be left to every individual. If you'd just watch this video, produced by one of the greatest sandwich researchers of all time, I think you'd finally understand what I'm trying to say.

But I concede that maybe I shouldn't even be discussing it here, and from now on I will only discuss sandwiches when OTHER PEOPLE BRING THEM UP.

(Thanks to occhiblu for filling me in.)
posted by mudpuppie 16 January | 20:03
Look, sandwiches are just not a subject we do well, OK?
posted by occhiblu 16 January | 20:12
This is an hilarious thread, but seriously, I feel like if the sandwich is cut diagonally, there is "less" sandwich. The pointy bits on the corners are somehow wasted. I generally do not cut at all, though.
posted by Rock Steady 16 January | 21:23
I never cut my sandwiches.

I slop the ingredients on one slice. I cover them with another slice. I dig in.

That is all.
posted by jason's_planet 16 January | 21:45
I like to cut my sandwiches along a fourth-dimensional axis, thus allowing me to devour them inside out.
posted by Eideteker 16 January | 23:45
Usually diagonal, slightly askew.

All sandwiches must be cut. Restaurants that give you that big serrated knife with your hamburger are to be commended.
posted by mullacc 17 January | 00:43
(((insane bunnies)))
posted by deborah 17 January | 12:49
Curse you, Pips! || Let's make bunnies!

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