Po'boy

"Po'boys are a mainstay of New Orleans food culture, appearing in endless variety on the menus of countless Crescent City eateries, some of them exclusively dedicated to the po'boy. Po'Boy tells the story of how a humble sandwich became a symbol of New Orleans culture, history, and cuisine. From the po'boy's ingredients to its origin story (and its many origin myths) to the ways that people of different cultures have put their own spin on it, Burke Bischoff takes the reader on a journey through history to understand what makes a po'boy a po'boy. Invented to help feed a crowd of out-of-work individuals in New Orleans' public service industry, the po'boy has been and continues to be the people's sandwich. Originally called "poor boys," and likely to be spelled differently on the menus of every restaurant that carries them, the po'boy is a submarine-like sandwich served on French bread. Its fixings are as widely variable as its spelling, though some common fillings include fried seafood, roast beef and gravy ("debris"), and hot sausage. As immigrant populations have moved through and into New Orleans, many of them have made the po'boy their own, most notably the Vietnamese immigrant communities that brought bâanh mái to the Crescent City. Rich with historical detail and filled with the voices of the culinary professionals who serve po'boys in New Orleans and beyond, Po'Boy welcomes readers into the world of the city's most iconic sandwich"--