A question for our fine New Orleans posters...

[mjr]

My wife had this question, and I didn't really know the answer, so I thought I'd ask those of you who live in/near New Orleans...

What's the actual difference in a Po' Boy, and a "sub"?

Based on a cursory search, it seems to me that the only real difference is that a Po' Boy is made with a certain New Orleans-based French Bread. Is that correct? Am I missing something?

So it would seem that the only place to get a real Po' Boy is in/near New Orleans. Anywhere else, it's not a real Po' Boy.

So what's the deal there?

[Tanasi]

So what's the deal there?

Other than some more unique ingredients (shrimp, oysters, catfish, etc) there isn't a difference. Some places call those type sandwiches sub-marine, grinders, po-boys. I like fried oyster po-boys.

[Mental_Mouse]

I've always heard Po' Boys as specifically being fried seafood -- I've seen oysters, clams, and catfish. I'd accept other seafood like shrimp as a natural extension, but if somebody tried to stick ham and/or cheese in there, I'd be rolling my eyes.

[EricKei]

You knew I'd show up in here eventually, as our resident expatriate New Orleans boy The primary difference between all of those sammiches is the bread. Outside of the Southern Louisiana/MS/AL/Northern FL area, chances are that anything described as "poboy bread" is really just Italian bread dough shaped into a longer, narrower loaf. This is how Voldemart does theirs (tho it's not bad, tbh).

TL;DR : Yeah. the bread is overwhelmingly the main difference.

Po'boys are specifically made on what us 'Murricans refer to as French bread for some reason There are places that are a hundred miles away or more that simply import it from NOLA daily (and one place in LA, from what I've heard!). "Classic" FB has a flaky outer crust (which makes a wonderfully big mess), with a light, airy inside that absorbs gravy really well; the crust may be crispy or chewy depending on the bakery. It's difficult to make outside of the NOLA area; supposedly because of the (admittedly odd) climate conditions there. Think of a baguette with a really thin, delicate crust and you'll have a pretty good idea.

The real thing typically comes in a 4-foot loaf or so, maybe 3 inches across. Fragile, but good; it is typically delivered to stores daily, as it gets rock hard within 48 hours or so. A typical use for day-old PB bread is Lost Bread/Pain Perdu -- In other words, big 1-inch French Toast croutons -- Recipes for this *specifically* call for stale bread more often than not. It's also commonly used to make bread pudding.

The secondary difference is the standard default toppings. In this case, a "dressed" po' boy has mayo, lettuce, tomato, and sometimes pickles.

The primary ingredients don't matter -- Fried or grilled fish, hot (esp. roast beef with "plenty gravy") or cold deli meats. You can even get a "french fry po' boy" -- an order of thick french fries smothered in brown gravy (the drippings from cooking the roast beef), which many places have for about a third to half of the normal sandwich cost; pretty much everywhere has them, it's just not always on the actual menu.

Mouse: I got bad news for you then, friend ^_^ The very first po'boys were ham and mayo. According to some of the old stories, they were given out either for free, or very cheap, to day laborers downtown during a Depression-era strike, circa 1929. The name comes from the bakery owners taking pity on "those po(or) boys." In my experience, deli meat PB's are more popular than seafood, but that is likely in part because they're cheaper.

As for where to get them: I live in MS. The closest place I know of to get the genuine article is in Meridian, which is a good couple hours' drive from NOLA.

[MoonCat]

an order of thick french fries smothered in brown gravy

Isn't that what Canadians call poutine?

[Seanette]

Isn't that what Canadians call poutine?

Doesn't poutine customarily involve cheese?

[EricKei]

MC - Yeah, it's basically a poutine sandwich without curds.

[Mental_Mouse]

Ah, so what I've been seeing up north and mid-south is a deep corruption of the original concept. Not the first time poverty culture's been hijacked by boutique merchants... (See also: music, clothing, slang...)

[EricKei]

Yup. Growing up in NOLA, I quickly learned to be suspicious of any foods that are NOT native to that area. If I were up north, I'd ask around before ordering a po' boy (I'd honestly just get the local equivalent), and I simply wouldn't order gumbo or jambalaya at all. Likewise, down here or back in NOLA, I'd be suspicious of places offering Chicago-style pizza or Philly steak sandwiches. When possible, if you want the real deal on any regional food item, get it from somewhere within a couple hundred miles of where it's famous ^__^

On a related couple of notes:

- Muffalettas were invented in NOLA, as well, at Central Grocery (downtown).

- One popular PB variant is the "Debris" po'boy -- Basically, if you slow-cook a roast beef (don't forget the garlic!) overnight, sooner or later, it'll start to fall apart into hundreds of teeny tiny bits of its own accord. Scoop those up onto some french bread with plenty gravy, and you have a yummy, tender treat that melts away in your mouth.

[lordlundar]

Isn't that what Canadians call poutine?

Poutine, well real poutine is very specific, almost to the point of France level protectionism. It does call for a thick cut fries (usually about double to quadruple the width that you typically see in most fast-food places), a particularly spiced "poutine" gravy, and non-packed cheese curds (rule of thumb, if it doesn't squeak when you eat it, it's not the real deal).

Now that said, the protectionism is not as bad as in France, and it's not regulated. Anything that is fries, gravy and cheese can be labelled as poutine, regardless if anything else is added. For various reasons though, most places up here keep it to the traditional 3 items. But if you want the genuine article, you got to get the right stuff.

[EricKei]

Exactly. I'd be afraid to order something called "poutine" this far south -- even in NOLA, which has a strong French influence anyway. The taters we typically see on french fry PB's are slimmer than those steak fries used in proper poutine, but still much thicker than shoestring (Mickey D/BK size) fries. I was actually unaware that poutine was Old-World French in origin; I figured it was a Canadian invention. TIL. Thanks!

[dalesys]

We used to drive two miles to the cheese factory (Amalga, UT) to get truly fresh curds...

[EricKei]

Dammit yer making me hongry. Never had actual Poutine, tho I'd love to -- closest I've ever come was steak fries with roast beast gravy and molten cheddar. I had never even *heard* the word until I joined this board, back in the day o_O

[notalwaysright]

I'm still not sure the difference between a po boy and a sub, because I'm pretty sure we have french bread subs here but they're not called po boys.

This is slightly unrelated, but I was trying to figure what would count as a "regional" food for where I live. Not Seattle, as that's like it's own world, but just the Pacific Northwest in general. One surprising answer I got was Thai food and teriyaki places, which is interesting. We do have tons and tons of them, I just figured everywhere did?

Micro breweries, which again I assumed everywhere had, though I joke that my town is just a college surrounded by breweries and pot shops. Independent coffee shops. But I believe the winner is salmon. Would I order salmon elsewhere in the country? I don't know, I barely order it here, so maybe I'm an aberration. I love salmon, but I never want to order it at restaurants. *shrug* I also wouldn't order crab because I'm super picky about it, growing up we always caught them, cracked them open and cleaned out the guts, then cooked them right away. None of this boiling the guts in the shell grossness.

[Seanette]

We used to drive two miles to the cheese factory (Amalga, UT) to get truly fresh curds...

We had a longer drive (ca. one hour) to ours (Bandon, OR).