THE HISTORY OF PO’BOYS

BY JULIAN BRUNT

The first time I visited New Orleans, I stopped for lunch at a po’boy shop at the River Walk. I ordered a fried shrimp po’boy, and the lady behind the counter asked, “Honey, you want that dressed and pressed?” I had no idea what she was talking about, and so began my fascination with po’boy, which lasts to this very day. If you are as uninformed as I was back then, dressed means with pickles, tomato, lettuce and mayo, pressed means pressed in something like a panini grill.

If you have any affinity for this noble sandwich, then I am sure you have heard the story of the po’boy being invented in New Orleans during a streetcar strike. Local restaurants felt sorry for the striking streetcar drivers and gave the “poor boys” sandwiches on slit open baguettes. It is a curious and fanciful story but patiently not true. Ever heard of a croque monsieur? It dates to 1901, and the famed streetcar strike was in the 1920s, but long before that, the frugal French were splitting crusty baguettes, filling them with good cheese and leftover meats to take to the fields for a farmer’s lunch. The po’boy is far from a NOLA invention.

Perhaps its origins are not important, but po’boys are certainly a tradition of the Gulf Coast. Other parts of the country have their favorite sandwich made on French bread or similar roll, like the hero, sub or grinder, but I doubt you will ever find a hero stuffed with soft shell crab or a crab cake and cheese for that matter. The po’boy has adapted to the local micro food cultures wherever they are found, so what you find in a po’boy in Biloxi (where I live), and what you find in one from Scott, Louisiana (which would almost certainly be boudin, as Scott has three of the most famous boudin makers in the south with a quarter of a mile of each other), will be quite different.

Po’boys also share the characteristic of being much argued over. Perhaps the hottest topic is the kind of bread to use. Leidenheimer is probably the most famous in NOLA, but several smaller bakers are popular in neighborhoods all over the city. One of my favorites is Don Phuong, a Vietnamese baker (and restaurant) located in the Vietnamese neighborhood called Versailles. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has several bakers that are quite good too. Magic Maid has been around for years and has a strong following. Le Market in Biloxi’s old Point Cadet neighborhood (which was a Vietnamese neighborhood before Hurricane Katrina), is wildly popular, but I am a fan of seriously crusty bread. Henry’s Café and Bakery in D’Iberville is my favorite. No matter where you buy your bread, you can choose a long baguette and cut it down to size or buy a po’boy loaf (related to the French baton), which does just as well. It is another personal choice.

As I have already alluded, po’boys differ by location, geospatial like, but many folks stick their noses up at po’boy ideas from other areas. I find glory in all po’boys (or most) but do think that Biloxi has some particularly good ideas. There used to be a local restaurant called Rosetti’s that made two huge contributions. First was the po’boy press. Something like a panini grill, that pressed the po’boy and toasted it at the same time. I would never get a po’boy that was not pressed (I guess I am opinionated!). The other notable contribution was the invention of the crab cake and cheese po’boy. A fellow came in one night and was in a hurry. He asked for a po’boy made with a crab cake and melted cheese. The owner of Rosetti’s did not know the guy’s name but he knew he was from Vancleave, so for years, that’s what this special was called, the Vancleave.

The fried shrimp po’boy is always the bestseller, maybe fried oysters come next, but for me, the best of the best is the pot roast beef po’boy, covered in gravy and a serious mess to eat, but amazingly good. Quave Brother’s in D’Iberville makes the best, but Po-Boy Express in Ocean Springs is also stunningly good. Good enough that they make two gallons of gravy a day. Po-Boy Express also makes an extremely good roast beef, gravy and shrimp po’boy.

Pirates Cove in Pass Christian has been around for a long time and has a huge following, as does Desporte's Seafood in Biloxi. BB's in Ocean Springs is another favorite, and several gas stations serve famous po’boys on the Mississippi Coast, too, like Fayard's. Po’boys are so popular in southern Mississippi that there is no way I could list them all. Sandwich lovers from other parts of the country might disagree, but I am of the opinion that there is not a better sandwich anywhere. Combine crusty French bread, tender and juicy roast beef and gravy, or perfectly fried, still juicy Gulf oysters, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and lots of mayo, and you will have a delight like no other. edm