In a stark reminder that cafeteria lunches have come a long way from that whole ketchup-as-vegetable fiasco of your youth, one intrepid lunch lady offered up chicken nuggets in a hot dog bun.
The culinary masterpiece emerged on Reddit and got picked up on BuzzFeed, where critics noted that the entrée was basically "I give up" in food form.
A photo from Pennsylvania's Hempfield Area High School cafeteria shows the sandwich, which is being marketed as a "Popcorn Chicken Po-Boy Sandwich." Who knew lunch ladies could spin that out of what's clearly dry chicken nuggets on a bare hot dog bun? Todd Rates, the food blogger/student that captured this #foodporn, told BuzzFeed that the sandwich cost $2.75. He didn't order it up, but his friend did. The verdict? It "tasted pretty good." Zagat-worthy it isn't, but as some redditors pointed out, it could be worse.
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"That's a lot of nuggets, when I was in school we wouldn't even get half of that," one wrote.
"Ah the infamous 'birddog,'" wrote another.
Other redditors added that the nugget-sandwich concoction just needed a few condiments or vegetables. It's not that far off from fast-food chicken sandwiches, either, which rarely have anything apart from meat and bun. The po-boy could be seen as a battered blank slate. All it needs is some sauce and cheese and it could be chicken parm. "Put some bbq sauce on this and it's totally edible," one redditor suggested.
The saddest part may be a link that showed school lunches from around the world. In an act of foodie serendipity, the American example even shows chicken nuggets, though they're not resting on that sweet hot dog bun. In Italy, kids can munch on local fish and caprese salad. In South Korea, there's a rice dish, kimchi, and even a side of soup. Another country that adds a side of soup? Spain, which offers gazpacho alongside shrimp and rice.
If that's not reason enough to study abroad, we don't know what is.