A small barmaid evenly sliced meat (6)
I believe the answer is:
salami
'meat' is the definition.
(salami is a kind of meat)
'a small barmaid evenly sliced' is the wordplay.
'evenly sliced' indicates alternate letters.
'small'+'barmaid'='smallbarmaid'
The alternate letters of 'smallbarmaid' are 'SALAMI'.
(Other definitions for salami that I've seen before include "Slim, graceful" , "Highly-seasoned Italian sausage" , "Highly-seasonal sausage" , "meat product" , "Highly seasoned fatty sausage" .)