Nothing tastes as good as a fried shrimp “po boy,” a gigantic sandwich that is favorite fare among Acadians in the backcountry of Louisiana. Nothing tastes as good except, perhaps, a grilled lobster roll, the sandwich of choice among Acadians along the eastern coast of Maine or up in “The County.”

These two seafood specialties have as much in common as the Acadians themselves, who took with them from Nova Scotia an appreciation of saltwater crustaceans whether they settled in Maine or ventured down to Evangeline country in southern Louisiana.

Find a clan of Acadians and you’ll find seafood, both saltwater and freshwater, appearing and reappearing like a refrain in a song. At least, that’s what chef Emeril Lagasse says in his latest cookbook, “Lousiana Real & Rustic.”

Lagasse describes the culture of the Cajuns, as they are called down South, but he might just as well have been addressing the Acadians of Maine. “I was struck by the simpleness of life,” he says. “Acadians are loose and relaxed, gracious and outgoing. Everything they do, they do with gusto. They laugh heartily, they eat, dance, play, and pray with great enthusiasm. Acadians love to have a good time, and their good times usually include food, lots of it.”

Anyone who has attended a family reunion in St. Agatha can attest to the quantities of food. Just as anyone who has visited Lafayette, Louisiana, during crawfish season – and Lent, to boot – can swear to mounds of crawfish, corn and potatoes on the tables, 75 pounds of crawfish to be exact, for about a dozen folks.

But, back to the po boy sandwiches, which are made with French bread split down the middle and filled with fried oysters, fried shrimp or spicy sausage. According to Lagasse, these “poor boy” sandwiches apparently got their name from two streetcar workers, Benny and Clovis Martin, who created them and sold them for 10 cents a piece during the 1914 New Orleans streetcar strike, when several thousand striking poor boys could afford little more.

Maine’s version of such a sandwich is the lobster roll, served on a bun split down the middle, buttered and grilled, and stuffed with crab or lobster.

Both versions are mouth-watering delicious; it just depends on where one is at the time. In Maine, the course may include fish chowder or steamed mussels as appetizers followed by halibut steak or scallops for the entree. In Acadiana, the meal would feature gumbo or oysters on the half shell, then red snapper or catfish fillets. In Maine, it’s fish and potatoes; in Louisiana, it’s jambalaya on rice.

Acadians here or there – in the north country here or in the swamplands there – share a common heritage of living off the land and the sea. They’ve been doing just that since coming to the New World from France in the 17th century.

They also share a 24-hour-a-day love affair with food, which Emeril says is a mighty lucky thing for the rest of us.