Sunday, April 15, 2012

In search of the elusive Cuban sandwich — in Cuba

Posted on Saturday, 04.14.12

Cuban cuisine

In search of the elusive Cuban sandwich — in Cuba

We looked for a Cuban sandwich in eastern Cuba — in cafeterias,
restaurants and on the street — but found it missing from Cuban cuisine.
By MIMI WHITEFIELD
mwhitefield@MiamiHerald.com

SANTIAGO, Cuba -- Asked whether one could get a Cuban sandwich at his
rooftop restaurant, proprietor Adolfo Saro said flatly, "There are no
Cuban sandwiches in Cuba.''

His private restaurant, Salon Tropical, boasts international and Cuban
cocktails and serves up a tasty barbequed chicken, but when it comes to
the Cuban sandwich, he said, don't expect to find it on his side of the
Florida Straits.

"That's a Miami thing,'' he said.

That may be something of an exaggeration, but that's pretty much how it
went during a week-long stay in Santiago to cover Pope Benedict XVI's
visit to Cuba. A Miami Herald editor asked photographer Patrick Farrell
and me to see how the Cuban version of the sandwich stacked up against
the ubiquitous Florida preparation.

We looked — on hotel and paladar (private restaurant) menus, at sandwich
shops, among the offerings of street vendors. But we didn't find any
Cuban sandwiches in this Eastern Cuba city.

At the Paladar La Caribeña, which offers 15 different lobster dishes,
the young waiter looked baffled as we explained the ingredients that go
into a proper Cuban sandwich. "Well, I suppose we could make a sandwich
like that ...,'' he ventured.

At Casa Colonial, a bed and breakfast, we discussed our Cuban sandwich
problem with proprietor Nivia Melendez. Because roast pork is expensive,
as well as pickles, by the time ham and cheese and mustard are added,
you'd wind up with a concoction probably costing more than most Cubans
would be willing to pay for a sandwich, she conjectured.

Nothing resembling the bread used to build a Cuban sandwich is available
in most Cuban bakeries, although she said she recently saw a loaf
similar to what Floridians know as pan Cubano offered at a bakery where
bread isn't rationed and is sold at market prices.

Her husband Roberto, on the other hand, said he had sampled the Cuban
sandwich during a trip to Orlando. He found it to be a very large — and
tasty — sandwich.

But he confessed his true passion was Cuban pastries, the kind found in
Miami with the flaky layers and fillings of guava and coconut. "They are
divine,'' he said. Our personal research was limited to Santiago and
environs, but we did find mention on the Web of a Cuban sandwich at a
restaurant in Old Havana.

Among the comments at Tripadvisor.com about the Factoria Playa Vieja
restaurant was this: "Without a doubt one of the best places to eat the
classic Cuban sandwich.'' It even had a picture of a sandwich that
looked well-stuffed with slices of roast pork.

On our final day in Santiago, I saw a sandwich press at the airport
cafeteria. Had I discovered the mother lode?

On closer inspection, I saw the bread looked right and the press was
turning out ample sandwiches that seemed promising.

But, alas, beneath the slabs of crusty bread there was just ham and
cheese — no roast pork, no sliced pickles. Close, but no cigar.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/14/2748731/in-search-of-the-elusive-cuban.html

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