The History of Tampa’s Most Famous Sandwich

The History of Tampa's Most Famous Sandwich is a fun one. I know everyone loves a Cuban Sandwich but did you know that Tampa has the most famous version of the sandwich. My family has been in the bakery business for years owning the well known Tampa Bakery "Housewife Bake Shop" and they did the best Cuban sandwich I have ever experienced. Many establishments have a Cuban Sandwich but a lot of them don't make them the traditional Tampa way. I remember going to a birthday party as a kid and they claimed to have Cuban Sandwiches, but that wasn't the case. They literally served us Ham sandwiches with nothing but mayonnaise, it was a dsgrace.

The Tampa Cuban is so famous that In 2012, the Tampa City Council approved establishing the "Historic Cuban Sandwich" as the city's signature sandwich. The official recipe is highly specific: It starts with crispy white Cuban bread, scored by slipping narrow strips of palmetto fronds into the dough before it's baked. Then comes ham, sliced thin and lightly sweetened, followed by roast pork in a citrusy mojo sauce and a layer of salty Genoa salami. Finally it is  finished off with Swiss cheese, three dill pickle slices and yellow mustard, before the whole thing is pressed until the bread is warm and the ingredients meld together. The one complaint I always hear is that a Tampa Cuban must have mustard. There are no if ands or buts, if there is no mustard, it isn't a Tampa Cuban Sandwich.

Check out more about Tampa most famous sandwich here Tampa's Cuban Sandwich