Thursday, December 30, 2010

Po Boys

I just finished reading The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke. Dave Robichaeux is a character that appears in many of his novels. Robichaeux is a sheriff's  deputy in New Iberia Parrish in Louisiana. 
I've written about Burke in past entries, but in Rainbow, he mentions a few times about having shrimp and oyster po boys, and I got a hankerin' to have me one.
In 1980 after Hurricane Fredrick demolished Mobile, Alabama, my company sent me down there on a long term assignment to help restore phone lines in the city.  I was there a few weeks when I realized I needed to have my wife down there with me. The third weekend I got to go home and it didn't take a lot of convincing to get her and our german shepherd in the truck heading back south.
The thing about living on the gulf coast is the seafood is remarkable. We had raw oysters, boiled shrimp, and every kind of fish you can name. I must have had hundreds of po boys during my time there (almost a year). 
.....now where was I? Oh yes, after reading the novel I told Jilda that I would really like to have a po boy. Yesterday when she went to the store, she bought up all the fixin's and whipped up some shrimp po boys for lunch today.
She apologized before we sat down because she didn't have the right equipment to fry the shrimp just right, but you could have fooled me. They were delicious!
I hit the big 60 in January so for my birthday, we are going to spend the weekend at the beach. 
You can safely bet that we'll spend some time at Bahama Bobs and slam down some po boys and a few adult beverages. 
I can't wait.

8 comments:

  1. ohhh just finished reading The Glass Rainbow too - I am a long-time James Lee Burke fan, and have read every book he's written.

    Hope you enjoy your birthday!

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  2. Po Boys!!! It's food!! It's like a great big platter of seafood right?!?!?! And of course lovely Jilda made the bestest ever!!!

    May you have a wonderful New Year and what a birthday to look forward to!!!

    James Lee Burke. I must try me some!

    Take care
    x

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  3. I finally tried a Po Boy when we went to Savannah last year. It was sooo good. I just turned 50 so I'm not waiting 10 more years to have another one if I can help it...haha. Fun post.

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  4. Dang, I'm hungry again after reading the comments. I've never had po boys for breakfast, but there's no time like the present!

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  5. The Glass Rainbow...gotta go look that up. I love finding out about new books.

    Sorry. I am NOT a seafood person. However, my director/friend loves shrimp so much, I'm sure she'd be thrilled to learn about shrimp po' boys. I've never heard of them. Is there a recipe I could find for her?

    And happy early birthday! Have fun at the beach and Happy New Year!

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  6. Oh man I miss Po Boys so bad. I lived in New Orleans for 3 years, shrimp Po Boys dressed with no tomato was my favorite. The way the breads all crunchy/chewy on the outside and soft on the inside, with mayo and shrimp still warm from the frier!

    You can't even get a half way decent one hear in Kansas City, so I haven't had a Po Boy in ten years.

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  7. beach life & seafood is my favorite. Lucky you.

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