Holy Cuban Sammich Batman

Our neighbors, Baklava Grille, made us some amazing Cuban sandwiches for our My Father event last night! Here's some info on the history of this great sandwich! (wikipedia)

As with Cuban bread, the origin of the Cuban sandwich (sometimes called a "Cuban mix", "mixto sandwich", or "Cuban Pressed Sandwich") is somewhat murky. The sandwich became a common lunch food for workers in both the cigar factories and sugar mills of Cuba and the cigar factories of Ybor City around 1900.

At that time, travel between Cuba and Florida was easy, and Cubans frequently sailed back and forth for employment, pleasure, and family visits. Because of this constant and largely undocumented movement of people and culture and ideas, it's impossible to say exactly when and where the Cuban sandwich first became a common worker's meal. By around 1910, however, workers' cafés in Cuba, Ybor City, and the older Cuban enclave of Key West were serving many such sandwiches daily.

In Cuba (where it is more commonly known as a mixto), the sandwich was served in kiosks, coffee bars and casual restaurants, especially in the big cities such as Havana or Santiago de Cuba. In Tampa's bustling Latin enclaves of Ybor City and West Tampa, it was served in mainly in cafes catering to workers in the cigar industry. By the 1960s, Cuban sandwiches were also common on Miami cafeteria and restaurant menus, as the city had gained a large influx of Cuban residents after Fidel Castro's 1959 rise to power in their native land.

The Communist Revolution caused a wave of Cuban expatriates to settle in other locations as well, and they brought their culture and cuisine with them. Cuban sandwiches are now served in various Cuban exile communities in places such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Puerto Rico, among others.

In 2010, MSN Local named the Cuban as one of the "15 essential sandwiches."