A Dummies Guide to the Perfect School Lunch: What Fills the Lunchboxes of Uni High?

By Emelie Ang

You’re sitting with your friends, amongst the ruckus of the canteen. The faint smell of fish lingers in the air, once fragrant in a Thai green curry, but lives on to be a nose-wrinkling odour worse than the fitness centre after a year 8 class after being overcooked in the sauce-splattered microwaves. Despite being in the canteen, you notice many people aren’t eating. In the air however, you can smell remnants of steam rising from homemade meals and crumbs scattered on the bottom of lunchboxes, picked up by a spit - covered finger in order to wipe up the last few morsels. A rainbow mirage of things. They are all different, nearly to the point where they all clash in contrast. 

You can almost taste them on your tongue. Your stomach grumbles in frustration, scolding you for not getting up earlier to chuck together a vegemite-cheese sandwich. It seems as though the only thing that will get you through the school day is the promise of food during lunch or recess, or the hope that it awaits you. 

A common occurrence for myself, the thought of food occupies most of people’s minds, especially those in their teenage years who need fuel for their growing bodies. It’s something many experience at Unihigh, and normally results with a quick run to the canteen to suffice that goal of being satisfied by a meal. Otherwise, many will go out of their way and out of school to grab a bite, year 12 being a year to look forward to. 

For several people, home is a safe place that is one of comfort. Bringing a slice of home, in the form of a home-cooked meal neatly packed in a lunchbox, is what makes the idea of recess and lunch so alluring. This is why many people at UniHigh choose the option of packing a lunch to bring to school. 

There’s endless possibilities of what you could pack, depending on what your stomach will allow or what your mum went to purchase from the supermarket the previous night. There’s snacks like Mr Kipling lemon cake slices, Le Snak, or fruit Roll Ups, nostalgic of primary school. Seasonal fruits here and there, apples being a fan favourite. 

When the bell rings for lunch, wrappers are chucked into the bin and out come the plastic tupperware containers with moisture-dotted lids from being packed warm.

Evident from the variety of smells that idle in the school air, no lunchbox is the same as its predecessor. But what exactly should you pack, with so many cuisines and choices and so little time in the morning to prepare?

A pasta dish cooked by Mum.

A popular choice it seems, upon taking a stroll around our school during lunchtime seems to be the simple but ever so versatile past time; pasta. 

Nourishing and relatively simple to whip up into a dish, pasta comes in several shapes, sizes and forms. There’s endless possibilities and choices; whether it be stirring ready-made pesto and canned tuna through it or simply sprinkling a generous amount of parmesan cheese. It’s filling and nourishing, and a good source of carbs to fuel the energy you need throughout the day. Plus, it’s generally a crowd-pleaser, even amongst the pickiest eaters. If there’s one rule to bringing pasta to school, it’s to always remember to salt the water when you cook it!

A nostalgic lunch put together by the student eating it.

We all remember it, the good old bento boxes of primary school that your mum used to fill to the brim with the classic Aussie snacks. Tiny Teddies, Uncle Toby bars, Up & Gos, and Arnotts shapes, if you were lucky. Although we have those days behind us, there’s no reason to stop relying on trustworthy bento lunchboxes. It’s relatively simple; cheese and crackers or anything else crunchy in one partition, an apple or a fruit of choice in the other, and then another snack of your choice. To top it all off, chuck in a sandwich, which is where most of the fun and creativity happens. 

There’s nothing better than the taste of authentic Asian takeaway, whether it be a greasy, oily char kway teow, or the homely, comforting wonton noodle soup. Becoming ever so popular, especially with the recent arrival a COVID-19 and a kitchen yearning to be put to good use, people have become more “adventurous” and have decided to venture into the realm of Asian cuisine, with more typical ‘Asian’ ingredients arriving on the shelves of supermarkets. At home, families decide to whip up quick stir-fries, using leftover veggies and a quick steaming of some rice. What makes Asian cuisine even more convenient apart from being quick and cost-friendly, is that it creates a perfect, yummy, school lunch that can be packed in minutes.

So, time for the verdict; what makes the perfect school lunch? Our school, diverse with cultures and ethnicities, is brimming with the diversity of cuisines in the contents of lunchboxes. Looking around UniHigh, it’s hard to narrow it down the idea of “perfect” to a singular dish and really, it comes down to preference. But still, you probably want an answer, something that you won’t mind waking up a little earlier than usual in the morning. My verdict? Leftovers or making do with what I have in the pantry. There’s something that feels rewarding about opening a lunchbox to see the rewarding fruits of the early-morning before-school turmoil that you’ve endured. It’s nourishing both for the body and the mind, and helps keep everything in check as we go through a rocky time where emotions and our bodies start spiralling, and makes school that one bit easier.