The Po' Boy, in All It's Glory

The distinctive sandwich of New Orleans is the Po' Boy. It ranks with the New England Grinder, the New York Hoagie and the Philadelphia Philly as one of defining dishes of a great American place. Today we will discuss the basic traditions of the Po' Boy. Later on we will deal with the fillings.

Start with a small loaf of French bread. If possible, you should use a whole loaf for a single sandwich. (Of course, if you can't get small French bread loaves where you live, use a whole loaf and saw it into sections.) The bread should be bakery-fresh, not loaded with preservatives and anti-driyng agents. (I don't care what "science" says - I can taste them!) Use something not too crusty, if you can get it. The inside should be soft as a baby's sigh and the crust should make the merest hint of a crunch when you bite into it. In a truly desperate pinch, use good Italian bread rather than an French loaf with a pretzel-like crust. (But your Po' Boy will have a different accent, so beware!)

The bread for your Po' Boy may be heated for a few seconds or not. It should never be toasted.

The "dressing" is the heart of a Po' Boy. The basic ingredients are: chopped tomato (not slices!), shredded or chopped FRESH-AS-YOU-CAN-GET lettuce and diced PICKLES, NOT PICKLE RELISH. The dressing ingredients must be small when you put them on the sandwich -- no whole lettuce leaves or pickle strips. Onions are optional, but if you use them THEY MUST BE DICED, not in the form of large circles of onion. Use white onion, not red; the Po' Boy, in all its forms, is about strong flavor.

Now you must make decision. The most commonly-practiced method of finishing the dressing is to use a rich, slightly sour mayonnaise to complete the dressing, finishing it off with a quick sprinkle of salt and black pepper. I belong to another school of thought. In fact, I am a faculty member of the other school of thought: The School of Remoulade. Remoulade is what they use in New Orleans instead of Tartar sauce. (You know, that stuff that people make from the tiny package of pickle relish that inexplicably comes in a box of Mrs. Paul's fish sticks.) Remoulade, like tartar sauce, is made by adding stuff to mayonnaise, preferably a good-quality Southern-style mayonnaise. The similarity ends there. The philosophy of tartar sauce is "Less (effort) is more (of something, I don't know what)." The philosophy of remoulade is: "More ingredients is more flavor." Grammatically incorrect though that expression may be, I believe it describes the essence of remoulade better than anything else.

REMOULADE SAUCE

1 cup of GOOD mayonnaise, preferably a brand that is both sweet and slight sour at the same time
lemon juice
hot sauce
Worcestershire sauce
prepared horseradish sauce
brown mustard
1/2 tablespoon minced onion (see note)
1/4 tablespoon minced garlic (see note)
capers (optional)
pickle relish (optional)

(Note: I use onion and garlic JUICE, which works better in remoulade. They can be hard to find, though, so you may end up breaking out the garlic press.)

The amount of the lemon juice, etc. is strictly to taste. ENHANCE the mayo, don't overwhelm it.

Remoulade is not just what New Orleans uses instead of tartar sauce, it's often a substitute for cocktail sauce.

As I see it, remoulade is a better choice than straight mayo for any Po' Boy made from friend seafood (oysters, shrimp, and fish). It is also an improvement on Po' Boys made from ham, cold cuts, fried chicken and most other fillings. It IS NOT a better choice for roast beef Po' Boys, because it clashes with the gravy. For all other purposes, however, remoulade beats straight mayo. (You can make pretty good chicken and tuna salads just by using remoulade and capers to bind your your canned, flaked protein, BTW.) Remoulade is also a more authentically Louisianan choice, too.

In a future post, I shall discuss the proper fillings.

I have been thinking about New Orleans cooking more than usual lately. I went to Jazzfest in May, and while I was there I ate many great New Orleans foods, some of which were so tasty that I cannot describe them in English. I ate Po' Boys for research purposes in the Drydock, a bar near the ferry landing in Algiers, across the Mississippi from New Orleans proper. My wife and I have finished the second draft of our second book, IN THE CAT'S EYES, a paranormal romance set in Algiers. The hero is Cajun, a Wildlife Agent whose cousin says of him "Jax lives on a steady diet of Po' Boys." The Drydock serves heavenly Po' Boys, although I'm afraid the scene that we had planned in there may be cut from the final draft. Vikki and I would like to secure a regular publisher for IN THE CAT'S EYES. We dream of signing copies in the Book Tent at Jazzfest. (Yes. Jazzfest has a book tent.)

Meanwhile, if scones and Irish cuisine are more your thing, our website has a page called "Nana's Recipes." You can read it here:
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If you'd like to broaden your horizons with a little a little bagpipe rock, try this page:
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If you'd like to sample some first-rate urban contemporary fantasy, read the sample of our novel TERRA LUNA, click
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See you there!

Terra Luna: The Return of the Fiorgaels