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A po' boy (also po-boy, po boy derived from the
non-rhotic The distinction between rhoticity and non-rhoticity is one of the most prominent ways in which varieties of the English language are classified. In rhotic accents, the sound of the historical English rhotic consonant, , is preserved in all p ...
southern accents ''Southern Accents'' is the sixth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on March 26, 1985, through MCA Records. The album's lead single, " Don't Come Around Here No More", co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, peaked ...
often heard in the region, or poor boy) is a sandwich originally from
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. It traditionally consists of a filling, which is usually roast beef, ham, or fried seafood such as shrimp,
crawfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...
, fish, oysters, or crab on a New Orleans French bread roll cut lengthwise. This "po' boy bread," is known for its crisp crust and fluffy crumb.


Preparation

A po' boy may contain a wide variety of fillings including roast beef, ham, fried shrimp, fried
crawfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...
, fried
catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...
, Louisiana hot sausage, fried chicken, alligator, duck, boudin, and rabbit listed among possible ingredients. "Po' boy bread" is a local style of French bread traditionally made with less flour and more water than a traditional
baguette A baguette (; ) is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. A baguette has a diameter ...
, yielding a wetter dough that produces a lighter and fluffier bread that is less chewy. The recipe was developed in the 1700s in the Gulf South because the humid climate was not conducive to growing wheat, requiring wheat flour to be imported and thus less available. A "dressed" po' boy has shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced pickles, and mayonnaise. Fried seafood po' boys can be dressed with melted butter and sliced pickle rounds. A Louisiana-style hot sauce is optional. Non-seafood po' boys will also often have Creole mustard. Aside from meat and seafood, cheese has also been a recognized ingredient since the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, the sandwich's inception occurring at the beginning of that period (year 1929). The fried oyster po'boys are also referred to by the distinct name "oyster loaf", and apparently have a different and older history. In a New Orleans "sloppy roast beef" po' boy, thick cuts are served with gravy, or for the "CrockPot tender" type the beef is stewed down until melded with its sauce, while in a third style, thinner slices are dipped in beef '' jus''. Garlic is an optional seasoning. Roast beef po' boys are commonly offered with "debris" (pronounced ), which is bits of meat that fall during cooking and are rendered into a near-gravy.


Etymology

In the late 19th century, fried
oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...
sandwiches on French loaves were known in New Orleans as "oyster loaves", a term still in use. A sandwich containing both fried shrimp and fried oysters is often called a "peacemaker" or . A popular local theory claims that the term "poor boy" (later "po' boy", etc.), specifically referring to a type of sandwich, was coined in a
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
restaurant owned by Benjamin ("Benny") and Clovis Martin, former
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
conductors originally from Raceland, Louisiana. The Martins established their eatery in 1921. In 1929 the bakery of John Gendusa first baked the bread used for this sandwich. In 1929, during a four-month strike against the streetcar company, the Martin brothers served their former colleagues free sandwiches. The Martins were interviewed on record regarding the origins of the sandwich. Benny Martin reminisced that they jokingly referred to an incoming diner as "another poor boy" if he turned out to be one of the strikers. The Martin brothers were asked the question of whether the name was inspired by some French or French patois word such as , but they denied that was the case. One New Orleans historian finds the Martin claim suspicious for several reasons, starting with the fact that it was not described by the local press until 40 years after the strike, and that prior to 1969 the story from the Martin brothers themselves was that they had created the po' boy for farmers, dock workers and other "poor boys" who frequented their original location near the French Market. The Martin brothers wrote a letter, reprinted in local newspapers in 1929, promising to feed the streetcar workers, but it referenced "our meal" and made no mention of sandwiches.


New Orleans

New Orleans is known for its grand restaurants (see
Louisiana Creole cuisine Louisiana Creole cuisine (, , ) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends African cuisine, West African, French cuisine, French, Spanish cuisine, Spanish, and Native American cuisine, Native American influenc ...
), but more humble fare like the po' boy is very popular. Po' boys may be made at home, sold pre-packaged in convenience stores, available at deli counters and most neighborhood restaurants. One of the most basic New Orleans restaurants is a po' boy shop, and these shops often offer seafood platters,
red beans and rice Red beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine (not originally of Cajun cuisine) traditionally made on Mondays with small red beans, vegetables (bell pepper, onion, and celery), spices (thyme, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf) ...
, jambalaya, and other basic Creole dishes. The two primary sources of po'boy bread are the Leidenheimer Baking Company and Alois J. Binder. There is fierce competition between po' boy shops, and resident opinions of the best po' boy shop varies widely. Each year there is a festival in New Orleans dedicated to the po' boy, the Oak Street Po'Boy Festival. It is a one-day festival that features live music, arts, and food vendors with multiple types of po' boys. It is held in mid-November along a commercial strip of Oak Street in the city's Carrollton neighborhood. The festival gives "best-of" awards, which gives the chefs an incentive to invent some of the most creative po' boys.


Variations

Authentic versions of Louisiana-style po' boys can be found along the
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...
, from
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
through the
Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...
. The term "po' boy" has spread further and can be found in the South Atlantic States and in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, where it may instead refer to local variations on the
submarine sandwich A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, is a type of American cold or hot sandwich made from a submarine roll (an elongated bread roll) that is split lengthwise and filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments. Although "subma ...
. Houston has its own variety of the po' boy, with chowchow added to ham, salami and provolone cheese, created in the 1960s and popularized by
Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
and Lebanese restaurateurs. Stephen Paulsen of the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
'' said the sandwich was "in the city’s food DNA, the Shipley Do-Nuts of sandwiches." It was first created by
Lebanese American Lebanese Americans () are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon and Latin America. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the American populatio ...
Jalal Antone, owner of Antone's Import Company in the Fourth Ward, in 1962 after his brother-in-law warned him that area residents at the time would not be accustomed to
Levantine cuisine Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, in the sense of the rough area of former Ottoman Syria. The cuisine has similarities with Egyptian cuisine, North African cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. It is particularly known for its ...
and the business should focus on something more familiar. John Lomax of '' Houstonia'' described the 1970s and 1980s as the height of their popularity and that the growth of chain sandwich shops that operated across the United States, the introduction of banh mi, and the poor quality of similar sandwiches in gas stations resulted in a decrease in popularity for the variety. Vietnamese immigration to the Gulf South, including New Orleans, since the 1970s has led to some crossover between po' boys and
bánh mì In Vietnamese cuisine, , bánh mỳ or banh mi (, ; , 'bread' (Hanoi: �aʲŋ̟˧˥.mi˧˩or Saigon: �an˧˥.mi˧˩), is a short baguette with thin, crisp crust and a soft, airy texture. It is often split lengthwise and filled with meat and ...
.


See also

* 1929 New Orleans streetcar strike *
List of American sandwiches This is a list of American sandwiches. This list contains entries of sandwiches that were created in, or commonly eaten in, the United States. A sandwich is a food item consisting of one or more types of food placed on or between slices of bread, ...
*
List of sandwiches Sandwiches are a common type of lunch food often eaten as part of a packed lunch. There are many types of sandwiches, made from a diverse variety of ingredients. The sandwich is the namesake of John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, a British statesman ...
*
Louisiana Creole cuisine Louisiana Creole cuisine (, , ) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends African cuisine, West African, French cuisine, French, Spanish cuisine, Spanish, and Native American cuisine, Native American influenc ...
*
Muffuletta Muffuletta or ''muffaletta'' is a type of round Sicilian sesame bread, as well as a popular sandwich, created by a Sicilian immigrant to the United States, that was popularized in the city of New Orleans. Etymology, pronunciation, and orthog ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

*


External links


Leidenheimer Baking Company's History of the po' boy



New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Po' Boy Louisiana cuisine American sandwiches Cuisine of New Orleans Seafood sandwiches Beef sandwiches Sausage sandwiches Chicken sandwiches Cajun cuisine