Is a scotch egg pasty the culinary equivalent of a deep-fried steak? That's the question traditionalists in the West Country are grappling with as they consider Tesco's latest creation – a hybrid of two of the UK's best-loved snacks.
Phil Abbot, director of Plymouth's Ivor Dewdney, a pasty maker established in the 1930s, was at a loss to explain what he thought was an April Fool.
"I just don't understand," he told the Daily Express. "If you want a Scotch egg, you have a Scotch egg. If you want a pasty, you have a pasty.
"It's like having a roast dinner curry or putting pizza between two slices of bread."
But the controversy, it turns out, has been over-egged.
The supermarket giant first unveiled its Scotch egg pasty via a tweet posted two days ago – but only as a recipe idea. "Fed up of eating pasties and scotch eggs separately? Do you dream of a better way? We do," read the earnest caption that accompanied the photo.
Opinion on Twitter was, naturally, divided.
"That is pure and utter genius by @Tesco," wrote @MrSnaplegs.
@JamesA_Design, riffing on a "playing God" theme referenced frequently by other users, tweeted: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
A spokesman for Tesco confirmed that there were no plans to introduce the Scotch egg pasty to supermarket shelves.
"I'm not aware of any plans. We wouldn't rule it out," he said.
