Language of Food: On the Bias

On the bias is a phrase that you hear often on cooking shows that seems so ubiquitous. Somewhere on TV right now is someone, maybe Rachael Ray, is telling you to cut something on the bias. Sausage, bread, chicken ... usually things that are long and skinny. After thinking about it a bit, I actually mentioned this act a long time ago, regarding sausage. I called it "the fancy factor."

But I had always considered "bias" as something in the news or in politics. The left-wing bias ... or the libaral news bias. Or maybe someone's opinion is biased. The word almost has no meaning anymore. So what does the word mean and how does it relate to cooking?

For the answer, all we need is a standard dictionary.

Bias: 1. an oblique or diagonal line of direction, 2. in the diagonal direction of the cloth, out of line; slanting.

Makes pretty good sense. Bias means slanted or diagonal, and that about sums it up. You have your news or your sausage on the bias, and you can have them at the same time.