A po' boy is a sandwich originally from Louisiana. It almost always consists of meat, which is usually roast beef, chicken fingers or some sort of fried seafood such as shrimp, crawfish, fish, oysters or crab. The meat is served on New Orleans French bread, known for its crispy crust and fluffy center.
When a striker came buy to get a sandwich, they would call out, “here comes another poor boy,” as the striker approached. That's how this New Orleans classic became known as the “poor boy” and was abridged to “po-boy”.
What is a po-boy sandwich? Piled with lettuce, tomato and pickles and filled with roast beef, fried shrimp, oysters–or whatever you choose–po-boys are stuffed and slathered with sauce or mayonnaise, and then served between two long pieces of French bread.
So, if you don't know what a po' boy is, it's a sandwich made by using French bread - typically a longer, more thin long type of French bread, but not the super skinny baguette bread. You can get away with the wider loaves of French Bread sold in most grocery store delis too.
The so-called poor boy (po-boy) sandwich originated from the Martin Brothers' French Market Restaurant and Coffee Stand in New Orleans during the 1929 streetcar strike. Poor boy sandwiches, commonly known as “po-boys,” represent bedrock New Orleans culinary culture—in effect, the shotgun house of New Orleans cuisine.
Types of Po-Boys
Fried seafood is the most popular version, drawing on the abundant local resources of the Gulf and bayous, but hot or smoked sausage, ham and cheese, and hamburger are also common.
The poor boy sandwich was then created in 1929 when the Electric Street Railway employees went on strike, and the Martin brothers gave away sandwiches to the strikers. The original Martin poor boy sandwiches were typically fried potatoes, gravy, and spare bits of roast beef on French bread.
Subs, with their Italian bread and piles of fixings, were harder to chew through than your typical ham and cheese on white bread. That toothsomeness got translated into "grinder," since that's what your teeth had to do to get through a bite.
Just like any sandwich, the meat of a Po'Boy can vary from roast beef to chicken ,sausage or seafood. It can be either hot or cold and served ( depending on which one you get) smothered in gravy or served with a sauce on the side.
Po' boys have to be made on New Orleans French bread. At peak freshness, “it's the best bread you ever want to taste,” says Kennedy, and nothing like a Parisian baguette. The crust is brittle but flaky, crunchy but “not as hard as a rock.” He describes the inside as similar to cotton candy.
Po'boy is a popular sandwich from Louisiana. Traditionally served on a French baguette or French bread with a crisp crust and soft and light center.
Hot sausage patty with swiss – crown topping.
Po Boys are also made with fried catfish or oysters, and sometimes you'll find them with beef or chicken, but the classic way is piled high with crispy, golden fried shrimp.
"Po' boy bread" is a local style of French bread traditionally made with less flour and more water than a traditional baguette, yielding a wetter dough that produces a lighter and fluffier bread that is less chewy.
What's in po' boy sauce? This po'boy sauce is based on a French-Cajun classic, remoulade. It's super easy to make—just spice up your favorite mayonnaise with some Creole seasoning and mustard, along with capers, hot sauce, horseradish, lemon, garlic, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
French bread in New Orleans has developed its own light, crispy crust and tender, almost frothy interior. The addition of a bit of olive oil and a wet dough make the crumb very tender and more close-grained than a traditional baguette.
Downtown Las Vegas is the Sandwich Capital of the World.
“Sub,” short for “submarine sandwich,” is said to come from Connecticut, where what was originally called a grinder became a sub because of the sandwich's uncanny resemblance to the submarines in a nearby naval shipyard. (See Submarine Sandwiches | What's in a Name for more on the submarine sandwich's origin story.)
Head over to New York City, and you'll see a similar sandwich referred to as a “hero.” The term likely comes from New York Herald Tribune columnist Clementine Paddleworth (yes, that was her name), who in 1936 described a sandwich so large “you had to be a hero to eat it.” More so than a sub, a hero can refer to both ...
The longest po-boy in New Orleans history took center stage, stretching an entire block of the French Quarter street. It came in at 352-feet-11-inches. The record-setting sandwich was built with ingredients from Blue Plate, Leidenheimer and Chisesi Brothers.
Halve the bread lengthwise. Spread the mayonnaise on the top half of the bread, then add the lettuce, ketchup, pickle slices and some hot sauce. On the bottom half of the bread, place the oysters on one side and the shrimp on the other. Close the two bread halves and slice the sandwich in half to serve.
They ranged in price from $8 to $12. The average price for a roast beef po-boy was $9.66. But not all po-boys are created equal.
In 1929, the "poor boy" was created by the Martin brothers, who came up with the simple but hearty sandwich when the Amalgamated Association of Electric Street Railway Employees, Division 194, went on strike, sending over a thousand unionized streetcar drivers and motormen off the job and onto the picket line.