Bologna fried until edges curl, served on white bread with mustard. The poor man's steak across generations of Black working-class life.
From Detroit's east side to rural Mississippi, this was the sandwich in the lunch box when there wasn't much else. Every Black adult over 35 has a memory attached to this sandwich.
Nutritionally modest and high in sodium and preservatives. Its value is cultural and economic, not therapeutic. Eat with awareness, not shame.
Score the edges with a knife before frying so it doesn't dome. One slice of thick-cut bologna in a dry cast-iron skillet until both sides brown and the edges curl up. Mustard on white bread, maybe a slice of American cheese.
Free, no account needed to ask.