Mr Hubby’s Cubanos Sandwich

We were asked by Florida 4 Less to recreate a traditional Floridian recipe.  I handed over to Mr Hubby, who is very definitely the chef in our house!

It’s quite apparent from first viewing that I’m no stranger to a sandwich or two; I’ve been a fan since I was a child.

It’s only in recent years, with the appearance of various shows on satellite television, that I’ve realised how poor our sandwiches are compared to those consumed in the US. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very partial to a cheese and Marmite or a ham and tomato but the whole attitude to sandwiches is vastly different.

It seems to me that, to us, a sandwich is something that is thrown down our necks at lunchtime so we can get back to work quickly; the original fast food I suppose.

The Americans, however, can elevate the humble sandwich in to something quite spectacular; the phrase that always comes to my mind is ‘Scooby snack’, but that’s probably just my age!

We were asked to create and test a Cubanos and I must admit, it wasn’t a sandwich I was familiar with. Having had a quick look on the internet, my taste buds were off and so was I to try to find the most authentic ingredients I could find.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 large wide loaf French bread (not baguette), halved lengthwise and quartered into 8 small slices
8 slices Swiss cheese
4 to 6 slices deli-style ham
5 to 6 ounces thinly sliced pork (roast, chop or pulled)
Dill pickles
4 tablespoons butter, softened

The Cubanos sandwich, also known as the Cuban sandwich, is a popular meal in south Florida where many Cubans have settled since the early 20th century. These toasted sandwiches are definitely Tampa and Miami, Florida’s favourite snack. Although they can be found in most restaurants in these cities, the best places to buy them are supposed to be the street corner snack bars, called loncherias.

Unfortunately, Cuban bread is hard to come by in West Berkshire so I had to improvise on a few things but, having assembled the best selection of ingredients I could, I was good to go.

Whilst my cast-iron pan was heating up, I assembled the beast; layering the cheese, pork, ham and pickles on the Ciabatta bread (the closest I could find to the type of bread needed) which had been coated with the mayo/mustard mixture. I swapped the quick pickles in the recipe for Dill pickles as I had seen them mentioned in other recipes.

My pan was now ready but something struck me; it probably would have been an idea to butter the outside of the bread before cramming it full of goodies as any attempt to turn it now was going to result in sandwich ingredients all over the floor and two very happy dogs!

With some assistance, however, the buttering was successful and the sandwich went in the pan. I didn’t have a second heavy pan with which to press down so I did it manually with a large frying pan.

Flipped and golden brown, it was removed, sliced and demolished (I feel I should point out that I didn’t eat it all)!

In hindsight, I think it could have done with another minute or two on the heat as I don’t think the cheese was melted quite enough. Nevertheless, it was very tasty but then, how could it not be with all those lovely ingredients?

If I ever make it to Florida, I will be seeking out the authentic version as I’m sure it will be even better.

Disclosure: We were given the money to purchase the ingredients for this project.