Po' boy
Encyclopedia
A po' boy is a traditional submarine sandwich
from Louisiana
. It almost always consists of meat, usually roast, or seafood
, usually fried, served on baguette
-like New Orleans French bread, known for its crisp crust yet fluffy center.
es is the bread. Typically, the French bread comes in two-foot-long "sticks". Standard sandwich sizes might be a half po' boy, about six inches long (called a "Shorty") and a full po' boy, at about a foot long.
The traditional versions are served hot and include fried shrimp and oysters. Soft shell crab, catfish, crawfish, Louisiana hot sausage, roast beef and gravy, and French fries are other common variations.
A "dressed" po' boy has lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise; pickles and onion are optional. Non-seafood po' boys will also usually have mustard
; the customer is expected to specify "hot" or "regular"—the former being a coarse-grained Creole mustard (such as that produced by Zatarain's
) and the latter being American yellow mustard.
The New Orleans roast beef po' boy is generally served hot with gravy
and resembles a Chicago Italian beef
sandwich in appearance and method of preparation, although the size, bread, and toppings differ. To make it, a cut of beef (usually chuck or shoulder) is typically simmered in beef stock with seasonings such as garlic, pepper, thyme, and bay for several hours. The beef can be processed into "debris" by cutting it to shreds when done (folklore says that a po' boy roast is done when it "falls apart with a hard stare") and simmering the shredded beef in the pot for a longer time to absorb more of the juice and seasoning.
The sandwich was featured on the PBS special Sandwiches That You Will Like
.
against the streetcar company, Martin served his former colleagues free sandwiches. Martin’s restaurant workers jokingly referred to the strikers as "poor boys", and soon the sandwiches themselves took on the name. In Louisiana dialect, this is naturally shortened to "po' boy."
One restaurant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
, Trapani's, insists that the name "po' boy" came from a sandwich shop in New Orleans. If one was new to a bar and bought a nickel beer, then he got a free sandwich thrown in. This was sometimes called a "poor boy's lunch", which came to mean just the sandwich itself.
) . But it is the po' boy that has had the greatest day-to-day impact on the local diet, even in the era of modern fast food. Many people still have it at least once or twice a week—it is eaten for lunch more than any other single dish. Po' boys are made at home, sold pre-packaged in convenience stores, available at deli counters and make up a sizable percentage of the menu options at most neighborhood restaurants.
The most basic New Orleans restaurant is the po' boy shop. In theory, it need not be much different than a sandwich shop in any other city, with little or no on-premise cooking. The debris gravy for roast beef needs to be kept hot, but that could be done in an electric warmer.
But these same basic offerings were also available at most corner grocery stores. Thus the next step up for a shop was to offer seafood po' boys and this meant having a stove (or fryer) and having someone who could fry seafood. And if you were frying fish, shrimp, and oysters for sandwiches, it did not take much extra to fry them for seafood plates. And if you had a stove for cooking seafood, it did not take much extra to also offer red beans and rice
and jambalaya
. Many of the classic New Orleans neighborhood restaurants are in this mold offering po' boys, seafood platters, and a number of basic Creole dishes: Tracie's, Parkway Bakery, Maspero's, Liuzza's, Acme's, Domilise's, Parasol's, Frankie and Johnnie's, and Casamento's.
, perhaps made with fried shrimp or oysters.
In New Orleans a "Vietnamese Po' boy" is another name for a Bánh mì
sandwich. This variation can be found throughout the city owing to the influence of Vietnamese immigrants, who brought with them Vietnamese-French bakeries.
Submarine sandwich
A submarine sandwich, also known as a sub among other names, is a sandwich that consists of a long roll of Italian or French bread, split lengthwise either into two pieces or opened in a "V" on one side, and filled with various varieties of meat, cheese, vegetables, seasonings, and sauces. The...
from Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. It almost always consists of meat, usually roast, or seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
, usually fried, served on baguette
Baguette
A baguette is "a long thin loaf of French bread" that is commonly made from basic lean dough...
-like New Orleans French bread, known for its crisp crust yet fluffy center.
Preparation
A key ingredient that differentiates po' boys from other submarine sandwichSubmarine sandwich
A submarine sandwich, also known as a sub among other names, is a sandwich that consists of a long roll of Italian or French bread, split lengthwise either into two pieces or opened in a "V" on one side, and filled with various varieties of meat, cheese, vegetables, seasonings, and sauces. The...
es is the bread. Typically, the French bread comes in two-foot-long "sticks". Standard sandwich sizes might be a half po' boy, about six inches long (called a "Shorty") and a full po' boy, at about a foot long.
The traditional versions are served hot and include fried shrimp and oysters. Soft shell crab, catfish, crawfish, Louisiana hot sausage, roast beef and gravy, and French fries are other common variations.
A "dressed" po' boy has lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise; pickles and onion are optional. Non-seafood po' boys will also usually have mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
; the customer is expected to specify "hot" or "regular"—the former being a coarse-grained Creole mustard (such as that produced by Zatarain's
Zatarain's
Zatarain's is a food and spice company. It was started in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna by Emile A. Zatarain, Sr., who took out a trademark and began to market root beer in 1889. He expanded his product range to include mustard, pickled vegetables, and extracts.Then he moved into the spice...
) and the latter being American yellow mustard.
The New Orleans roast beef po' boy is generally served hot with gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
and resembles a Chicago Italian beef
Italian beef
An Italian beef is a sandwich of thin slices of seasoned roast beef, dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll, believed to have originated in Chicago, where its history dates back at least to the 1930s...
sandwich in appearance and method of preparation, although the size, bread, and toppings differ. To make it, a cut of beef (usually chuck or shoulder) is typically simmered in beef stock with seasonings such as garlic, pepper, thyme, and bay for several hours. The beef can be processed into "debris" by cutting it to shreds when done (folklore says that a po' boy roast is done when it "falls apart with a hard stare") and simmering the shredded beef in the pot for a longer time to absorb more of the juice and seasoning.
The sandwich was featured on the PBS special Sandwiches That You Will Like
Sandwiches That You Will Like
Sandwiches That You Will Like is a 2002 PBS documentary by Rick Sebak of WQED. The unique sandwich offerings of cities across the United States are shown, from those that are often found outside of their city of origin to the...
.
Etymology
There are countless stories as to the origin of the term po' boy. One theory claims that "po' boy" was coined in a New Orleans restaurant owned by Benny and Clovis Martin (originally from Raceland, LA), a former streetcar conductor. In 1929, during a four-month strikeStrike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
against the streetcar company, Martin served his former colleagues free sandwiches. Martin’s restaurant workers jokingly referred to the strikers as "poor boys", and soon the sandwiches themselves took on the name. In Louisiana dialect, this is naturally shortened to "po' boy."
One restaurant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Bay Saint Louis is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 8,209. It is the county seat of Hancock County...
, Trapani's, insists that the name "po' boy" came from a sandwich shop in New Orleans. If one was new to a bar and bought a nickel beer, then he got a free sandwich thrown in. This was sometimes called a "poor boy's lunch", which came to mean just the sandwich itself.
New Orleans
The national and international reputation of New Orleans cooking is largely based on its grand restaurants (see Louisiana Creole cuisineLouisiana Creole cuisine
Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana which blends French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Asian Indian, Native American, and African influences, as well as general Southern cuisine...
) . But it is the po' boy that has had the greatest day-to-day impact on the local diet, even in the era of modern fast food. Many people still have it at least once or twice a week—it is eaten for lunch more than any other single dish. Po' boys are made at home, sold pre-packaged in convenience stores, available at deli counters and make up a sizable percentage of the menu options at most neighborhood restaurants.
The most basic New Orleans restaurant is the po' boy shop. In theory, it need not be much different than a sandwich shop in any other city, with little or no on-premise cooking. The debris gravy for roast beef needs to be kept hot, but that could be done in an electric warmer.
But these same basic offerings were also available at most corner grocery stores. Thus the next step up for a shop was to offer seafood po' boys and this meant having a stove (or fryer) and having someone who could fry seafood. And if you were frying fish, shrimp, and oysters for sandwiches, it did not take much extra to fry them for seafood plates. And if you had a stove for cooking seafood, it did not take much extra to also offer red beans and rice
Red beans and rice
Red beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine traditionally made on Mondays with red beans, vegetables , spices and pork bones as left over from Sunday dinner, cooked together slowly in a pot and served over rice...
and jambalaya
Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence. -Jambalaya varieties:Jambalaya is traditionally made in three parts, with meats and vegetables, and is completed by adding stock and rice. It is also a close cousin to the saffron colored paella found in Spanish culture...
. Many of the classic New Orleans neighborhood restaurants are in this mold offering po' boys, seafood platters, and a number of basic Creole dishes: Tracie's, Parkway Bakery, Maspero's, Liuzza's, Acme's, Domilise's, Parasol's, Frankie and Johnnie's, and Casamento's.
Variations
Authentic versions of Louisiana style po' boys can be found along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast—from Houston through the Florida panhandle. The term "po' boy" has spread further and can be found on the Southeastern seaboard and in California, but may refer to variations on the local submarine sandwichSubmarine sandwich
A submarine sandwich, also known as a sub among other names, is a sandwich that consists of a long roll of Italian or French bread, split lengthwise either into two pieces or opened in a "V" on one side, and filled with various varieties of meat, cheese, vegetables, seasonings, and sauces. The...
, perhaps made with fried shrimp or oysters.
In New Orleans a "Vietnamese Po' boy" is another name for a Bánh mì
Bánh mì
Bánh mì or bánh mỳ is a Vietnamese term for all kinds of bread. Bread, or more specifically the baguette, was introduced by the French during its colonial period. The bread most commonly found in Vietnam is single serve and resembles a torpedo, therefore the term bánh mì is synonymous with this...
sandwich. This variation can be found throughout the city owing to the influence of Vietnamese immigrants, who brought with them Vietnamese-French bakeries.