When is a sandwich a po’ boy? The answer is in the filling and location

The dish

Po’ boys, US

Plate up

When is a sandwich a po’ boy? What makes a thing that could also be called a sub, given it’s on a baguette-like roll, or just a sandwich, a po’ boy? The answer is in the ingredients, and the location.

For the latter, you need to be in Louisiana, preferably New Orleans. For the former, a proper po’ boy is built on New Orleans-style French bread, which is fluffier and lighter than a classic baguette, and has no tapering at the ends. That bread roll is then “dressed” with lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced pickles and mayonnaise, and topped with a range of meaty fillings, from roast beef with gravy, ham or Louisiana hot sausage, to seafood such as fried shrimp, crawfish, catfish or crab (these seafood-based sandwiches are often dressed with just butter and pickles, and maybe French fries). These are big, hearty sandwiches meant as an affordable stomach filler.

First serve

To understand the sandwich, you have to understand the name: po’ boy is short for “poor boy”, which is who the snack was designed for. Back in 1929, the streetcar workers of New Orleans went on strike, and brothers Bennie and Clovis Martin, former streetcar workers themselves who had opened Martin Brothers Coffee Stand and Restaurant a few years earlier, began handing out their large sandwiches to striking workers, and coined the name. “Here comes another poor boy!” the brothers would yell as a worker approached their store.

Order there

Though the Martin brothers’ store isn’t around anymore, another that was open during the 1929 strikes, and which also handed out free sandwiches, is Parkway Bakery and Tavern (parkwaypoorboys.com).