% use Data::Dumper;
% my $categories = stash 'categories';
% my $current_category = stash 'current_category';
<nav class="desktop"><%
my @sorted_categories = sort {
        $categories->{$a}{priority} <=> $categories->{$b}{priority} 
} keys %$categories;
my $target_category_slug = $current_category_slug;
if (defined $current_category) {
    my $possible_parent = $current_category->{parent};
    if (defined $possible_parent && defined $categories->{$possible_parent}) {
        $target_category_slug = $categories->{$possible_parent}{slug};
    }
}
for my $category_key (@sorted_categories) {
    my $category = $categories->{$category_key};
    if (defined $category->{parent}) {
        next;
    }
    my $selected = defined($target_category_slug) && $category->{slug} eq $target_category_slug;
    %><a class="<%=$selected && "selected" %>" href="<%= '/'.$category->{slug} %>"><%==$category->{menu_text}%></a><% 
}
%></nav>