We all (most) know exactly what a po' boy is, this is one of those times you don't look at wiki or listen to anyone saying it's just another name for the same hero or sub. Nope. It's a po' boy. Get down with the fried seafood or roast beef and gravy, crusty soft-center French bread, "dressed" BOLD!
Well it's not a batter like fish and chips, just flour/corn meal so it's thin and more of a crumbly coating. Batter is not the way to go for po' boys. Mayo on the bread, L&T, pickles, squeeze a lemon directly on the fish if desired. It all comes together. Textures are key. Crunchy, crispy, soft. Acids cut any heaviness.
CJ - We have catfish almost every week. And yes, there have been occasions when we've had it more than once in a week. We usually blacken or fry it - so good! I tend to be with you on the bread-and-bread thing, though like THP says, this isn't really like breading or a heavy batter. The thing that really boggles my mind still are pierogies - basically mashed potatoes tucked inside pastry-type dough, which I didn't become acquainted with until I moved here. I kind of get people using that as a side dish, but the people who eat that as an entree??? Starch-and-starch doesn't make sense to me, from a nutrition standpoint. But I guess some people just really like them, so it's all good!
And J.... as the RESEARCH king, I'm expecting an annotated bibliography with yours....