The Hot Pressed Cuban Sandwich

[Suu]

I just had one for lunch today for the first time in years, so I thought I would offer it to the board for consumption purposes.

Contrary to popular believe, the Cuban Sammich is not from Cuba, it originated in Tampa during the cigar rolling days, and has since become a local food staple in the Bay area and unfortunately South Florida. Where it is exceptionally inferior, of course.

Each region may make the Cuban a little differently, but they all seem to have the basic ingredients:

Cuban Bread
Ham
Roasted Pork
Swiss Cheese
Yellow Mustard
Dill Pickles


In the Tampa Bay area, it's common to put genoa salami onto the mix as well. In Miami, they will add bologna. This is wrong and only Miami would fuck it up by throwing such an inferior meat onto an amazing sammich. Those Dade County Heathens also have added olives and heavily peppercorned salami before. Again, making us Tampanians wish death on them even more so than usual.

You start with a footlong piece of Cuban bread (if you can get it. You may have to suffer through the flakiest softest baguette you can find), and slice it in half long ways to accommodate the fillers. Don't use the heel of the bread, and make sure your cuts are diagonal.

You spread yellow mustard on the inside of the bread, then layer in the dill pickles, meat and cheese. Then, wrap the sandwich in foil before putting it on the press. The press for a Cuban sandwich is called a plancha, and is sorta like a panini only with no grill marks. So it's just a plain press. Sometimes you can find them for quesadillas.

You press the sandwich evenly on both sides until it's heated throughout. When you unwrap the sandwich, the bread should be golden and flaky and the cheese should be melted. Don't push down on the press, let the weight of the top do it until it presses the bread about half as high as it was. This can take a good solid 10 minutes at times.

Cut the sandwich in half down the middle with a diagonal cut, and enjoy! Remember to follow up with your favorite Hav-A-Tampa or Tampa Girl smokes.

For those that are adventurous, here's a recipe for making Cuban bread:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/cuban-style-bread-recipe/index.html

[East Coast Hustle]

I fuckin' love these!

Of course, I feel compelled to point out that the St. Thomian version is doubtlessly infinitely superior to your weak-sister statesider version (which I've never tried on account of never going south of I-10 in FL).

[LMNO]

I feel compelled to say that the Cuban at the Plough and Stars in Cambridge, MA is pretty fucking good, and uses a chipotle aioli in place of mustard.

Suu, I invite you to come up here and give it a shot.

[East Coast Hustle]

that sounds good. the St. Thomian version leaves out the cheese and pickles and adds a little mayo and avocado in it's place. Probably has less to do with tradition or culinary genius and more to do with the fact that cheese costs around $8/lb on STT.

[Suu]

I feel compelled to say that the Cuban at the Plough and Stars in Cambridge, MA is pretty fucking good, and uses a chipotle aioli in place of mustard.

Suu, I invite you to come up here and give it a shot.

HERESY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do like chipotle, but it's a Mexican thing. Snooty Cambridge has fucked it up forever. I wonder if I went there and demanded pickles and mustard if they would do it. Though I'm sure they've heard, "Well I'm from Tampa and you blew it" more than once. I mean, I eat yellow mustard on very few things, and Cubans are one of them.

that sounds good. the St. Thomian version leaves out the cheese and pickles and adds a little mayo and avocado in it's place. Probably has less to do with tradition or culinary genius and more to do with the fact that cheese costs around $8/lb on STT.

You need the cheese. YOU NEED THE FUCKING CHEESE. Tell the USVI to start milking their own cows, damnit. I couldn't live without cheese, sammich or no. How the hell did you live there?

[LMNO]

Sheesh.  Forget I said anything.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

You can get em at 7-11's nationwide right?
They're the same there as they are anywhere else really.

[Suu]

Sheesh.  Forget I said anything.

Sorry, I'm a purist. 

Because I trust your culinary judgment, I shall seek out this Cuban and give you a full report.

The thing is with Cubans is that they're so regionally selective. Because I'm sure if someone from Miami came to Tampa they wouldn't like the use of salami over bologna. But like I was talking to my brother this morning, that's the variable meat. As long as it has ham, pork, swiss, and the proper bread then you have the basis for a decent sandwich.

You can get em at 7-11's nationwide right?
They're the same there as they are anywhere else really.

You can't get them in 7-11s up here. I've looked. That's a Florida thing. My dad and I were actually having a hard time finding them in Clearwater/Dunedin and then we drove by a Shell and I'd be damned. Lol.

We have a Cuban restaurant in Providence which they claim there's is the best, but I wasn't impressed (tbh, it's not really a sandwich designed to impress, so you shouldn't fuck it up, right?) I also don't want to pay their price for one. They put mayo on it. You can mix mayo and mustard to cut the mustardy-ness, but I don't want to see one half of the bread dripping with mayonnaise, that's just fucking wrong. Plus, mayo is disgusting.

I'll get over it. I promise.

[Eater of Clowns]

I'm going to make a regionally selective Cuban substituting rye bread for Cuban bread, Russian dressing for mustard, keep the Swiss cheese, switch pickles for sauerkraut, and combine both meats into pastrami.  I shall call it a Ceuban.

[Suu]

I'm going to make a regionally selective Cuban substituting rye bread for Cuban bread, Russian dressing for mustard, keep the Swiss cheese, switch pickles for sauerkraut, and combine both meats into pastrami.  I shall call it a Ceuban.

I expected linguica. You fail me.

[Eater of Clowns]

I'm going to make a regionally selective Cuban substituting rye bread for Cuban bread, Russian dressing for mustard, keep the Swiss cheese, switch pickles for sauerkraut, and combine both meats into pastrami.  I shall call it a Ceuban.

I expected linguica. You fail me.

That would make it a Cuban, Guy.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

I have the pork roast spice recipe.....  The cuban couple who lived next door to my parents for years would have these sandwiches out every new year's day for their little football party.  She gave momma the recipe and she gave to me.  They did use a weird combination of mustard and mayo with 2 parts mustard to 1 mayo, but I prefer plain mustard!!
Even amounts of

cumin - ah yes the smell of sweaty....  nevermind  
black pepper
salt
garlic

Put little cuts all over the roast and shove this mixture into them, then rub the whole roast in the rest.  Bake in the oven covered until done.  DO NOT SEAR beforehand!!!  It screws the whole thing up, you don't want any type of browning on the pork!!!

Also, if you do these at home, cover two bricks in foil and leave them in the oven when pre-heating to 425.  Then put your sammich on a pan, bricks on sammich and let heat for eh 10 - 15 minutes.  You just want your cheese to get al melty.

Also just as a side note, honey ham isn't the best for this.  it messes up the flavors....

[East Coast Hustle]

that sounds good. the St. Thomian version leaves out the cheese and pickles and adds a little mayo and avocado in it's place. Probably has less to do with tradition or culinary genius and more to do with the fact that cheese costs around $8/lb on STT.

You need the cheese. YOU NEED THE FUCKING CHEESE. Tell the USVI to start milking their own cows, damnit. I couldn't live without cheese, sammich or no. How the hell did you live there?

It was a difficult adjustment to make, but I decided it was a worthwhile exchange for being able to drink all the booze I could stomach and still lose 35 pounds in 5 months.