The Hot Ham-N-Cheese

The Hot Ham-N-Cheese sits in the middle of our po’boy list and gets ordered less than almost anything around it. That is a shame, because it is the simplest sandwich on the menu and one of the few where every element is doing something obvious.

Ham, American cheese, and the standard po’boy dressing, served hot, in a 7-inch or a 12-inch.

What is in it

• Ham, served hot rather than cold
• American cheese, melted into it
• Lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and pickles — the standard po’boy dressing
• On po’boy bread, in both sizes

That is the whole build. What makes it interesting is that it is a hot version of something almost everybody has eaten cold, and hot ham is a genuinely different proposition.

Why hot ham is different

Ham is cured pork, and curing changes it fundamentally — the process of salting and often smoking preserves the meat and concentrates its flavour before it is ever cooked.

Applying heat to that does two things. The fat softens and starts to render, which releases the smoke and salt into everything around it. And the surface dries very slightly, which concentrates it further. Cold ham is mild and clean; hot ham is noticeably saltier and smokier from the same slice.

That is why the dressing matters so much here. Cold lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise against hot, salty, smoky ham is a real contrast rather than a garnish — and the pickles cut through the fat directly.

What is not in it

No mustard, no coating, no sauce beyond the mayonnaise in the dressing. That is unusual on this menu, where most items carry at least one sauce, and it is why the sandwich reads as plain rather than merely simple.

If you want more from it, a cup on the side is the way rather than asking for changes to the build. Honey mustard is the obvious partner for ham; garlic sauce works if you want depth without sweetness.

Ham and cheese, and why it works

One of the most durable pairings in cooking, and the logic is straightforward. Ham brings salt, smoke and cured depth. American cheese brings fat, mildness and a smooth melt with no character of its own to compete.

The cheese is not there for flavour. It is there to soften the salt and bind the sandwich, which is exactly what it does across the rest of this menu too — there is more in what American cheese actually is.

Against those two it is the plainest of the three, and that is the argument for it. Where the French dip is an event and the bacon club is loaded, this is a sandwich you can order without thinking about it.

Why it is on a po’boy menu at all

A reasonable question, since ham is not what New Orleans is known for. The answer is that the po’boy format is defined by the bread and the dressing convention rather than by the filling — nine po’boys means nine fillings in one format.

Ham fits that format particularly well because it is thin-sliced and pliable, so it packs along a long roll without the gaps a chunkier filling leaves. And because it is cured rather than cooked to order, it is one of the few fillings that is ready the moment the sandwich is built.

Cured pork has been a sandwich filling for as long as sandwiches have existed, for exactly those reasons. Our guide to the long roll and its regional names covers how filling-agnostic the format really is.

Who should order it

• Anyone who finds the fried po’boys heavy — there is no coating on this at all
• Anyone ordering for someone whose tastes they do not know
• Children, at the 7-inch, though ask for it plain if dressing is a problem
• Anyone who wants a sandwich rather than a project

It is also the po’boy that travels best of the nine. Nothing on it is fried, so nothing can go soft; hot ham and melted cheese hold up considerably better in a bag than a battered fillet does. Our guide to what makes a po’boy covers the rest of the list.

Seven inches or twelve

The 7-inch, for most people. This is a rich, salty sandwich and it does not have a fried coating or a strong sauce to break the density up, so it eats bigger than it measures.

The 12-inch earns its place for sharing, cut in half — and because ham and cheese divides more cleanly than a fried fillet does. More on that in 7-inch or 12-inch.

Dressed or plain?

Dressed, on balance. The sandwich is salty and rich, and the acidity in the pickles and the coolness of the lettuce and tomato are doing real work — without them it is ham and cheese in bread and not much else.

Plain makes sense in two situations: if it is going in a bag for any length of time, and if you are ordering for a child who objects to salad. In both cases add a pickle on the side rather than losing the acidity entirely.

The short version

Hot ham, American cheese and the standard dressing in a long roll. Hot ham is saltier and smokier than cold, the dressing exists to cut it, and the cheese binds rather than competes. It is the plainest and the best-travelling of the nine, and it is on the po’boy menu in both sizes.

Nine po’boys, two sizes

Seven come dressed as standard. This is the simplest of them.

Po’boys

Nine, 7-inch and 12-inch.

Sides

A dry side suits it best.

Explore the Menu Order Online

Frequently asked questions