If the po-boy is New Orleans' iconic sandwich, then the roast beef version probably best represents perfection on a loaf of Leidenheimer. But what defines a great roast beef po-boy? Last week I was overhwhelmed with an inexplicable craving for roast beef, to the point where I knocked out 3 po-boys in 5 days (with a Friday in Lent included in that time frame). From this recent stretch run as well as years of painstaking research, a few common denominators have emerged as representative of the city's truly great specimens of roast beef.
Gravy Quantity - This should be blatantly obvious, but dry roast beef is a cardinal sin. When the sandwich sticks to the roof of your mouth, that's not a good thing. On the other end of the spectrum, a roast beef po-boy should not be so gravy-laden that it falls apart before taking the first bite. I have a friend who measures the deliciousness of a roast beef po-boy by the number of napkins required for consumption. Perfection lies somewhere in the middle.
Gravy Quality - A roast beef po-boy is not some bastardized version of a french dip (though vice versa may be true). Au jus is reserved for lesser culinary conquests like prime rib. Nor should roast beef taste of canned beef gravy or broth thickened with Kitchen Bouqet. We're looking for a gravy built from a foundation of beef drippings cooked down and thickened to concentrate the flavor.
The Beef - In my opinion, there is no correct answer to this question. I like debris style roast beef such as Parkway. I like sliced roast beef such as Sammy's. I like chopped roast beef like R&O's. And I like all hybrid versions in between. What's most important is that the roast beef tastes like roast beef. Augmentations such as garlic or pot roast vegetables in the style of Mahoney's, while not traditional, are acceptable.
Composition - If there is one small step which can tansform a good roast beef po-boy to a great roast beef po-boy, it is toasting the bread. Hot and crunchy french bread provides a solid foundation for piling on the beef and is an added level of protection from gravy breaching the sandwich like floodwaters pushing through the 17th Street Canal. But do not toast the bread with all of the fixings; we want crunchy and cool lettuce, tomato, and pickles.
And thus it was written.
Currently, my favorite roast beef po-boy is from Parasol's. No, I didn't mean Tracey's. The subject of much controversy at the end of last summer, Parasol's stock has actually risen in my book due to a strong to quite strong performance by a roast beef po-boy composed of debris-style beef, thick gravy, toasted bread and a lagniappe of garlic butter and heavy dash of parsley flakes across the top layer of bread (pictured above). It's like eating your favorite roast beef on garlic bread.
Tell us about your favorite roast beef po-boy in the comments.
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