Y'all, I had no idea when I planned my recent trip to New Orleans that it was soft shell crab season! Well, at least it was, until thousands upon thousands of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf, contaminating the local sealife. As upset as I am about this, I'll try to focus on the joy of po'boys for the moment.
I had heard good things about Parasol's, a neighborhood bar in the Irish Channel with a back room for grub. According to my wise friend Shirley Bordelon, "One of my friends used to say that it was the only po'boy where she felt like licking her elbows when she finished because the gravy was so thick and luscious that it ran down her arms." Alas, I wanted to try the beef, but I could not resist the rare, in-season soft shell crab.
The great thing about New Orleans is that you can walk into what is essentially a dive bar and get soft shell crab, lightly fried to perfection, on some of the freshest French bread you'll ever eat.
For those of you unfamiliar with soft shell crabs, they are blue crabs caught as they are molting their hard shells, when the outer casing is soft enough to eat. You can fry (or sautee, or whatever you prefer) the whole crab and eat it, shell and all, and it's delicious. My dining companions got the fried oyster po'boy, which was equally divine.
At Parasol's, the po'boys were "dressed" with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayo for an ideally balanced bite that didn't overwhelmed the seafood. The fresh bread squished down just perfectly, flaky but firm enough to keep the sandwich contained in one delicious loaf. I'm sorry the photos aren't better, but it ain't easy taking photos in a dark dive bar.
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