The Simply Delectable Cuban Sandwich

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Mar 11th 2009 @ 9:01AM

Get prepared. Back from a trip to Key West, I'm ready to revel in all things Cuban, tropical, and rum tasty ... until I whimper for the blue seas again and retreat back into my cave.

Above is the sandwich that almost never got eaten. I went to Key West, indulged in as much rum, seafood, and Cuban food as I could handle, and then got waylayed by a freak snowstorm in Atlanta. During my extra day in the sun, I walked the length of Simonton St. and came upon Ana's Cuban Cafe (1222 White St) -- the place I kept meaning to stop at, but never made it to. I'll never make that mistake again, and I hope you won't either.

The cafe is nestled inside a simple corner store, jam-packed with drinks and food. I walked to the counter and ordered a Cuban sandwich -- ham, pulled pork, lettuce, cheese, and mustard pressed between delicious slices of Cuban bread. It was both simple and delicious -- the sort of dish that doesn't need to rely on fancy ingredients because every single one goes perfectly with the next. But the hero of this sandwich is the bread. Cuban bread is wonderfully soft inside, so getting pressed in a plancha, it crisps up easily on the outside, and condenses into almost nothing on the inside. That way, you get the perfect flavor of bread without the stomach-filling weight of a thicker variety. Divine simplicity, just like the cafe itself.

A number of Slashfoodies can't be wrong!

Note: If anyone has good recipes for Cuban bread, let me know. I've tried one thus far, but am still looking for the perfect one.

Filed Under: Ingredients
Tags: Cuban food, Cuban sandwich, CubanFood, CubanSandwich, ham sandwich, HamSandwich, islands, north america, sandwiches, southern states

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-11-2009 @10:24AM gan said... aww, you can't have lettuce in a cuban. its a meat only sandwich :P

there's some spots that had good cubans in atlanta, but kool korners closed and havana sandwich shop burned down
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3-11-2009 @11:41AM Rt said... When I moved into the Tampa area people raved about the Cuban food and sandwiches. Meh, I was nonplussed concerning its reputation. Of my top 10 sandwiches this *might* make the middle of the pack, and then only because I have them infrequently (I do have them - I LOVE sandwiches).

We went to one of the old family run restaurants. I ordered the sandwich to go after the meal. The meal was bland and the sandwich was equally unexciting. I thot Cuban would use more spices, maybe that's Jamaican.

I prefer Mexican or Chinese food to Cuban, but then everything depends on which restaurant you end up at. To that point I would prefer Cuban to Italian food just because it is so hard to find a good Italian restaurant (I got spoiled living next to a good one).

Still, if you get a chance to try ethnic Cuban food then go for it. No sense missing an opportunity to try something different.
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3-11-2009 @3:27PM Meg said... I don't have a recipe, but if you have a Publix near by they ship in their Authentic Cuban bread from Miami and it IS made with lard. Just a heads up.
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3-14-2009 @11:54AM Landonkeywest said... I'm lucky enough to live in Key West (I have happiness and poverty in abundance). There are so many wonderful Cuban Sandwiches on the island. Sandy's on White and Virginia, 5 Brothers on Southard Street, El Siboney on Margaret and Catherine. Honestly, they are all a little different. But it's just up to personal preference on this one. Coke or Pepsi = Sandy's or 5 Brothers. I'm a Sandy's man myself. I recommend El Siboney for the Cuban Pork with Fried Plantains, Black Beaans and Yellow Rice (for about $10!).
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3-15-2009 @2:24PM KF said... This looks, and sounds, fantastic. I do love a good Cuban sandwich, but in California, I'm quite certain the version I get is not authentic. Still, I love it, and it will do until I stumble on a real version.
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3-15-2009 @2:24PM KF said... But yes, as another commenter pointed out, I don't think lettuce is part of a true Cuban sandwich. Ham, pork, swiss, mustard, on pressed cuban bread, right guys?
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3-16-2009 @6:47PM G. T. Bond said... Tampa families come from all over the U.S. and the world, and know the delights of homemade bread baked every Saturday. We have French, Greeek, Jewish breads, but the one bread typical of Tampa is the Cuban bread. It stands in bins at the side of the counter because it is too long to lay flat. Cuban bread is one yard long, crusty beige on the outside and about 6 inches of delicate white fluff on the inside. It is usually baked with a piece of the palmetto plant down the center of the roll. To wake up to Buttered Cuban toast and coffee in the morning is wonderful. In the early 20th century this bread was delivered in a horse-drawn bakery wagon, and the delivery man would swing the loaf like a bat and impale it on a nail hammered to the side of the customer's house. Hygiene has banished the nails, but as long as a Tampan remains alive, there will be a fierce demand for this marvelous bread.

Cuban Sandwich Recipe

1 1/2 loaves Cuban Bread
Mustard and butter
3/4 pound baked ham, thinly sliced
1/2 pound barbecued or roast pork
1/4 pound thinly sliced Swiss Cheese
1/4 pound Italian salami, thinly sliced
lengthwise slices of dill pickle

Cut Cuban bread in 6 pieces 8 inches long. Split lengthwise and spread mustard on 1 piece, and butter on the other. Divide ham, pork, Swiss cheese, salami and pickle among the six sandwiches, arranging in layers on the bread. Wrap each sandwich in a paper napkin and secure with a toothpick. Most people like them pressed in a hot sandwich press, or warmed in the oven. Lettuce and tomato may also be added, as well as most teenagers like to insert potato chips believe it or not. That is a memory from my junior high years. Yea, Washington! There is nothing better than a meal consisting of a bowl of Spanish Bean Soup, Cuban Sandwich and a Ybor City Deviled Crab Roll.
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