I love Cuban sandwiches. I grew up eating them and they are a comfort food in my home. As Cuban food becomes more popular in the United States, and more readily available outside of the traditional Cuban communities around the country, the sandwich is gaining a large following of fans around the country and for good reason. The slow-roasted pork, ham and Swiss cheese topped with dill pickles and mustard on Cuban bread combine to create a unique taste that is quite different than a regular panini or Hot Pocket. Miami is the epicenter of the Cuban community in America, and the sandwiches are readily available all over town. Whether served on a plate or wrapped in paper to-go, they rarely disappoint. And since the ingredient list is basiclly set in stone, they vary ever so slightly from one place to the next. One place might use more garlic in their roast pork, or more oregano or use a sweeter, thicker sliced Honey Baked ham (like they do at The Cheesecake Factory) instead of the regular ol' Oscar Mayer. Everyone will settle on a favorite, and mine comes from a poplar L.A. area bakery called Porto's. For the most part it is still served the way I remember it when I was a teenager, although they have seemed to get a little smaller over years as the popularity of the bakery has grown. But isn't it always like that? Recently I was back in Cuba in search of the famous Cubano and what I learned was that I would be searching for a long time. Here is a little background.
The Cuban sandwich is known by several names, depending on where you are. Sometimes called a Cuban mix, or mixto, a Cuban pressed or simply plain old Cubano, the ingredients always remain the same. The sandwich itself traces its roots to the sugar-mills and cigar factories of Havana in the late 1800's, although it is a well known fact that there were already large Cuban populations in both Tampa and Key West, Florida and travel between the the two counties was both free and frequent. Some say the sandwich originated in Cuba, while others say that is was, in fact, created in Florida and carried back to the homeland by early traavelers between the two countries. A well known historian, Loy Glenn Westfall, said "the sandwich was born in Cuba and educated in Key West." The first written references to the sandwich date back to around 1900 in Ybor City, Florida, and historians generally accept that the sandwich as it as served today, first appeared there. In fact, only there will you find a variation of the sandwich, which mixes the signature ingredients with a few slices of Genoa salami as well. Perhaps because of the large Italian population that lived side by side with the early Cubans and Spaniards there that this unique combo was created. So much is it part of the fabric of Florida that in 2012, the "Historic Cuban Sandwich" was designated as the "signature sandwich of the city of Tampa" by its city council.
So on a recent trip to Cuba I decided to seek out an "authentic" Cubano, searching long and far, but came up empty handed and somewhat disappointed. On my first attempt, at the cafe at the Hotel Nacional, I could find nothing on the menu that even resembled what I was looking for. So I asked the waitress if I could order something that might not be on the menu. No substitutions were to be had and I settled for a salad. The next day, while walking up and down Obispo in Old Havana, I looked at several menus, still unable to find the now elusive "sandwich cubano." I was not about to give up. After many strange looks from waiters, I finally picked a café that seemed to know what I was looking for. Finally! But the best I could come up with was a ham and cheese sandwich, served with lettuce and tomato on a French roll. Blasphemy! At first, I thought it was me and maybe I was asking for the wrong thing. Afterall, they don't call fried potatoes "French fries" in France. And we have often wondered what they actually Chinese food in China. Maybe asking for a Cuban sandwich was in fact the problem. Maybe it was just a roast pork sandwich with Swiss that I should be asking for, although I had yet to see anything resembling Swiss cheese anywhere in Cuba.
On my last day in Havana, after sneaking into the now-closed-to-public, ballroom of the former presidential palace and taking my picture at the piano, my friends and I decided to eat at the famous Focsa building in Vedado. It is the tallest building in Cuba with a restaurant at the top that has a spectacular view of the city. Once again I looked over the menu and was dismayed to not find what I was looking for. So again I decided to ask and again I was told the best they had to offer was a warm ham and cheese on a French roll. I looked over the menu to see if roasted pork was an option. It was not. But I was not going to be deterred, either. So I asked if I could have the ham and cheese, and, if possible, some mustard and pickles. The waiter said he would check to see if they had any, and to his surprise they did. So I made my own. You should have seen the amused expression on the waiter's face. And though it really only was a regular old ham and cheese sandwich with mustard and pickles, at that moment I felt like I was in Miami enjoying one of the best like those at Versailles in Little Havana. Hey, don't laugh because somehow it worked!
Next time I will stick to the black beans and rice. More on that in the future!
