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Regional Foods: The Cuban Sandwich (Cubano)

Prior to this heavenly moment, my "best sandwich" was definitely the Philly Cheese Steak I had ordered from a street vendor outside of our corporate office in downtown Philadelphia.

Ken Walker
By:  | AllBusiness.com | 
Filed In: Cleveland, OH, USA and Ohio, USA
2011-05-13
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I knew that many Cuban Americans inhabited the Southern Florida region of the United States.  I had no idea however, just how deeply steeped that area was in Cuban Culture until I went to Miami with tickets to see the World Series.  In 1997, the Florida Marlins were set to play the Cleveland Indians and my cousin and I were fortunate enough to have two tickets.  We flew into Miami just a few hours prior to the start of the game and we got lost on the way to the stadium.  I pulled into a convenience store to ask for directions, “Can you tell me where the Stadium is, please?”  The clerk looked at me and in a heavy Cuban accent she said, “Es al norte, hace America!”  My cousin asked me, “What did she say?”  I told him, “Apparently, we’re so lost that we find ourselves in Cuba.  She says the stadium is north; toward America!”

Feeling hungry, we bought two Cubanos (Cuban sandwiches), we thanked the nice Cuban lady, and we left to try again.  We sat in the car for a bit, eating the sandwiches and I chuckled to myself as I thought, “Here I am in a sketchy part of town, in a filthy parking lot outside of a dirty old convenience store; and I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the best sandwiches I may well ever eat in my life!”

Prior to this heavenly moment, my “best sandwich” was definitely the Philly Cheese Steak I had ordered from a street vendor outside of our corporate office in downtown Philadelphia.  On this day, I felt certain that a side by side taste test comparison would favor the Cubano; hands down!

The Cuban sandwich, also known as the cubano, is a popular meal in south.  These treats can be found in most restaurants in Southern Florida, but the best places to buy them are from the street corner-snack bars, or Cuban owned lunch carts called loncherias. The sandwiches have a submarine-style layering of ham, roast pork, cheese, and a pickle between a sliced length of Cuban bread. They are pressed heavily and quite literally smashed together to marry all of the juices together while the meat and cheese fuse together, all from the heat of the steam coming out of the slow roasted pork.

You might think, “This isn’t so hard, I can do this at home!” but wait… The most important part of a Cuban sandwich is the bread.  It is not ordinary bread, no sir.  It is Cuban bread.  It looks like French bread, but it is not the same.  Cuban bread contains lard.  Lard makes for a spectacular dense and chewy bread, along with a flaky crust that is almost like pie crust, it’s so tender.  The downside of lard based dough (besides the fat), is that the resulting bread only stays fresh for a day or so.  Using this fresh Cuban bread as the foundation for such a wonderful combination of meat and cheese is unmatched anywhere in America.

What’s your “Best Sandwich?”  Have you found the “Best Burger?”  Leave a quick comment and share your experience!

EXTRA: If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send him a “Tweet” on his twitter account.  You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!


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