Spartan Daily

Take a bite out of history: Po' boys & the oyster loaf

Loosen your belts because today is a day of unabashed gluttony.

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French, and the day calls for enjoying fatty and rich foods before the fasting of the Christian Lenten season, which begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras is notoriously celebrated in New Orleans, where one of America’s best regional foods calls home.

The po’ boy, or poor boy, is a New Orleans classic that takes many different forms, and one of the most famous is the Oyster Loaf. 

James Beard (think male Julia Child) once wrote that the Oyster Loaf “was what gentlemen who lingered too long in their favorite bar took home to the little woman as a peace offering.”

If a trip to New Orleans isn't in your cards, Silicon Valley-based food truck Louisiana Territory serves up blackened chicken, pepper and sausage and fried catfish po’ boys.

According to Steve Tedesco, food truck manager, customers keep asking for oyster po’ boys.

When asked what his favorite po’ boy was, Tedesco said, “For me, it’s the fried catfish because it’s good catfish, the least spicy and has the best flavor.”

Tedesco said po’ boys come in many variations, but Louisiana Territory hollows out their bread – traditional style – giving more packing room for sauce and fried “stuffin’s.”

Elna Green, associate dean of the College of Humanities and the Arts, who went to graduate school at Tulane University of Louisiana said her favorite is a shrimp po’ boy and that seafood is a New Orleans specialty.

“I don't eat poor boys anywhere but New Orleans,” Green said. She followed by saying her favorite place to eat a po’ boy is at Franky & Johnny's, a mom and pop joint that's off the tourists' maps and “has been around forever.”

Want to find it? Green said locals say, “It's off Tchoupitoulas Street, baby!”

Tchoupitoulas Street is a famous New Orleans street and pronounced "CHOP-it-TOO-luhs,"

Michael J. Mizell-Nelson, associate professor of history at the University of New Orleans, wrote in an email that he began researching the story of the po’ boy sandwich because of his interest in labor history and if its name had any connection to the violent streetcar strike in New Orleans.

According to Mizell-Nelson, Benny and Clovis Martin, who shared a grocery store, invented the poor boy sandwich in New Orleans during the 1920s.

“When the streetcar union went on strike in July of 1929, the Martin brothers vowed to help their streetcar operator friends by feeding them large sandwiches made from loaves of French bread free of charge,” Mizell-Nelson wrote.

According to Mizell-Nelson, the brothers initially promised a free meal but relegated their offer to large, robust sandwiches to maintain their support in an affordable manner.

“Each time a striking worker entered their restaurant, the Martin brothers (may have called) out, ‘Here comes another poor boy,’” Mizell-Nelson wrote.

The name stuck, and a legendary sandwich was born.

Casamento’s Restaurant arguably has one of the best oyster loafs in all of New Orleans.

Third generation owner, CJ Gerdes, said his grandfather started making the oyster loaf with a pan bread in 1919 instead of the conventional French Bread, creating a whole new tradition.

He said the pan bread is like Texas toast – it’s a half to three-quarters of an inch thick, toasted, buttered and stuffed with 10 to 15 oysters that were dipped in corn flour and fried in cast-iron skillets.

For an oyster po’ boy in San Jose, head over to Poor House Bistro, where it is served with a cornmeal coating, homemade tartar sauce and cabbage and pickles.

“The roll is nice and crispy – it’s a good bread roll,” said Scott Buckovic, fourth year history major. “The garlic spread accents well with the fried oysters, and it comes with the seafood gumbo.”

Of course, nothing compares to the real thing – try a po’ boy in New Orleans.