Po’ boy now a rich treat

IN THE months that followed the spectacular stock market collapse of October 1929, industries and institutions around the world unravelled.

As capital disappeared and investment vanished, unemployment soared.

For those fortunate enough to retain work, wages spiralled downwards in an era when few if any workers’ protections existed in law.

In New Orleans, the privately-owned streetcar company (the city’s only public transport) dictated that its frontline staff would take a 35 per cent pay cut, or mass lay-offs would begin.

While commuter numbers had certainly fallen in the broken economy, that move was little more than an opportunistic and greedy attempt to subvert what had previously been a fair and reasonable wage arrangement.

In response, the staff went on strike. With no social welfare programs to help, bellies were empty and hunger set in.

Yet a restaurant downtown, which was run by a pair of brothers who were former streetcar conductors, decided that help must be given, and took it upon themselves to provide free sandwiches for striking workers. It was, as they said, the least they could do for the “poor boys of New Orleans”, or, in the Creole accent, the po’ boys.

That eponymous sandwich is now famous the world over as a much-loved street food: crispy fried prawns (once a cheap and readily available local ingredient) with lettuce and spicy mayonnaise in a soft white roll. With the addition of zesty onions and the extra crunch of a polenta coating, this po’ boy has become a rich treat.

PRAWN PO’ BOYS serves / 6