Cuban Sandwiches ready to be pressed in a busy cafe in Ybor City, Tampa

A Cuban sandwich is a variation of a ham and cheese originally created by Cuban workers, either in Cuba or in Ybor City^{[citation needed]}, Tampa, Florida. Later, Cubans brought it to other communities in southern Florida, particularly Miami and Key West, Florida. The sandwich is made with ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and sometimes salami on Cuban bread.^[1] Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... This article is about the cut of meat. ... Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals. ... Ybor cigar factory, c. ... Tampas skyline For alternate meanings, see Tampa (disambiguation) Tampa is a city located in Hillsborough County on the west coast of Florida. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami metropolitan area Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ... Map of Key West Key West is a city located in Monroe County, Florida. ... This article is about the cut of meat. ... For other uses, see Pork (disambiguation). ... This article describes a kind of cheese produced primarily in the United States and Canada. ... Pickles may refer to Vegetables that have been pickled Pickles (comic strip), a comic strip by Brian Crane Pickles (dog), the dog that found the World Cup trophy in 1966 Pickles (SpongeBob SquarePants episode) Pickles Oblong, a character from the cartoon The Oblongs The Metalocalypse character Pickles the Drummer of... For the plant and spice of the same name, see the article on mustard. ... Salami Salami is cured sausage, fermented and air-dried. ... Cuban bread is a fairly simple bread, usually made with lard instead of oil. ...

History

As with Cuban bread, the origin of the Cuban sandwich (sometimes called a "mixto sandwich", or "Cuban Pressed Sandwich") is somewhat murky. The sandwich became a common lunch food for workers in both the cigar factories and sugar mills of Cuba and the cigar factories of Ybor City around 1900. Cuban bread is a fairly simple bread, usually made with lard instead of oil. ... Lunch is an abbreviation of luncheon, meaning a midday meal. ... For other uses, see Cigar (disambiguation). ... Two sugar beets - the one on the left has been cultivated to be smoother than the traditional beet, so that it traps less soil. ...

At that time, travel between Cuba and Florida was easy, and Cubans frequently sailed back and forth for employment, family visits, etc. Because of the blending of culture and ideas, it’s impossible to say where the Cuban sandwich first became a common worker’s meal^{[citation needed]}. Very quickly, however, workers’ cafés in both Ybor City and Cuba were serving many such sandwiches daily.^[2]

As it grew later on, Miami also gained a resident Cuban population, and Cuban sandwiches were common on cafeteria and restaurant menus there by the 1930s^{[citation needed]}. One of a number of cafeterias at Electronic City campus, Infosys Technologies Ltd. ...

Ingredients

While there is some debate as to the contents of a “true” Cuban sandwich, most are generally agreed upon. The traditional Cuban sandwich starts with Cuban bread. The loaf is sliced into lengths of 8-12 inches (20-30 cm), lightly buttered on the crust, and cut in half horizontally. A coat of yellow mustard is spread on the bread. Then roast pork, glazed ham, Swiss cheese, and thinly-sliced dill pickles are added in layers. Traditionally, the pork is marinated in mojo^{[citation needed]} (a Cuban garlic/citrus marinade) and slow roasted. For other uses, see Mojo (disambiguation). ...

The main regional disagreement about the sandwich’s recipe is whether or not to include salami. In Tampa, Genoa salami is traditionally layered in with the other meats, probably due to influence of Italian immigrants who lived side-by-side with Cubans and Spaniards in Ybor City. ^{[3] [4]} In Miami, salami is left out. Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ... The history of Ybor City dates back to the mid-1880s, when Vicente Ybor moved his cigar factory from Key West. ...

In Key West, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato are usually added. These additions are often available in restaurants in Tampa and Miami, but are frowned upon by traditionalists there.^[5] For the song by The Smashing Pumpkins, see Mayonaise (song). ... Binomial name L. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... For other uses, see Tomato (disambiguation). ...

When assembled, the sandwich is lightly toasted in a sandwich press called a plancha, which is only somewhat similar to a panini press but without grooved surfaces. A traditional Cuban sandwich is never made with a panini grill. The sandwich remains in the plancha until the bread is crisp and the cheese is melted, the press both heats and compresses the sandwich which is then usually cut into two diagonal halves. Panini can refer to: Pāṇini, the 5th century BC Sanskrit grammarian Panini (sandwich), a type of Italian sandwich Panini (stickers), a brand of collectible stickers Giovanni Paolo Panini, an Italian artist This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Related dishes

A very similar sandwich is the medianoche or "midnight" sandwich, so named because of the sandwich's popularity as a midnight after-clubs treat. It contains the same ingredients, but is assembled on softer bread made from a sweet yellow egg dough.

References

External links

Cuba Portal

• Cuban Sandwich recipe
• Sandwich Cubano HOWTO at Off The Broiler blog
• Pictorial of Latin American Cafeteria's Cuban Sandwich operations in Miami, Florida
• Pictorial review of The Cuban Sandwich shop in Tampa, Florida
• Cuban Sandwich, Medianoche historical citations by food researcher Barry Popik.
• Hot Pressed Cuban, Hold the Dinosaur

Image File history File links Flag_of_Cuba. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

See also

Cuban bread Cuban bread is a fairly simple bread, usually made with lard instead of oil. ...