Cuban sandwich
A pressed sandwich born in Cuban immigrant communities.
milo-photo from Dublin, Ireland · CC BY 2.0
The Cuban sandwich, known in Spanish as a *sándwich cubano*, is a type of ham and cheese sandwich that likely first appeared before 1900 in cafes that served Cuban workers in Tampa or Key West. These were early Cuban immigrant communities in Florida, built around the cigar industry. Later, Cuban exiles and expatriates introduced it to Miami, where it also became very popular. The sandwich typically includes ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on Cuban bread, with salami sometimes added.
The sandwich’s exact origins are unclear. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, travel between Cuba and Florida was common, especially from Key West and Tampa, as Cubans moved back and forth for work, leisure, and family. This constant, often undocumented movement of people makes it impossible to pinpoint when or where the sandwich first emerged. Historian Loy Glenn Westfall described it as “born in Cuba and raised in Key West.”
When the cigar industry shifted to Tampa in the mid-1880s, the immigrant community of Ybor City was founded by cigar maker Vicente Martinez-Ybor. Over the following decades, tens of thousands of Cuban, Spanish, and Italian workers moved there, helping Tampa grow from a village into a bustling city. The earliest known mentions of a distinct Cuban sandwich come from descriptions of workers’ cafés in Ybor City and nearby West Tampa around 1900, leading some historians to think the sandwich as we know it first appeared there. A 1934 travel article in the *Mason City Globe Gazette* noted that Tampa’s cooking was “much more distinctive than elsewhere in the state” and listed Cuban sandwiches among the city’s “signature foods.” Researcher Andrew Huse argued that the old “mixtos” evolved into the distinct Cuban sandwich, calling it “an original Tampa creation.”
By the 1960s, Cuban sandwiches were common on Miami cafeteria and restaurant menus, thanks to a large influx of Cuban residents after Fidel Castro’s 1959 rise to power. The Communist Revolution also sent Cuban expatriates to other places, bringing their culture and cuisine. Cuban sandwiches and their variations are now served in Cuban exile communities in New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, and Puerto Rico.
The traditional Cuban
- Main ingredients
- Cuban bread, ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, sometimes salami
- Regional variation
- Salami included in Tampa since at least 1934, not in South Florida
Lore & Background
The Cuban sandwich's origins are murky due to constant travel between Cuba and Florida in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historian Loy Glenn Westfall stated the sandwich was 'born in Cuba and raised in Key West.' The earliest recorded mentions come from workers' cafés in Ybor City and West Tampa around 1900, leading some historians to theorize it first appeared there. A 1934 travel article listed Cuban sandwiches among Tampa's 'signature foods' and described the Tampa version as including 'soft salami,' indicating it was already a standard ingredient there.
Reader's Guide
The Cuban sandwich is a significant cultural symbol of Cuban diaspora communities in Florida, particularly Tampa and Miami, where a long-running friendly rivalry exists over which city makes the best version. The Tampa City Council officially designated the 'Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich' as the city's signature sandwich in 2012. The sandwich's inclusion of salami in Tampa reflects the influence of Italian immigrants in Ybor City. The sandwich has been celebrated in festivals, including the annual Cuban Sandwich Festival in Tampa, and gained wider recognition through the 2014 film 'Chef.' A 2016 experiment by a Tampa Bay Times writer led to August 23 being observed as 'National Cuban Sandwich Day.'
Did You Know?
- A 1934 travel article described a Tampa Cuban sandwich as including 'soft salami,' confirming salami was a standard ingredient in Tampa by that time, not merely an optional addition.
Roots in the Cigar Factories
The precise birthplace of the Cuban sandwich remains shrouded in the same fog that obscures the origins of Cuban bread itself. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the waterway between Cuba and Florida's southern coast was crossed so frequently by workers, families, and traders that pinning down a single moment of invention is nearly impossible. What is clear is that the sandwich grew up in the world of the cigar trade. By the 1860s, some accounts suggest it was already a working lunch in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Key West. When the cigar industry relocated to Tampa in the mid-1880s under the banner of Vicente Martinez-Ybor's Ybor City, tens of thousands of Cuban, Spanish, and Italian laborers followed. The earliest written references to a distinct pressed sandwich appear in descriptions of workers' cafés around 1900. Historian Loy Glenn Westfall captured the sentiment by calling it a dish "born in Cuba and educated in Key West," while researcher Andrew Huse argued the old mixtos coalesced into their modern form as a genuine Tampa creation.
The Salami Wars: Tampa vs. Miami
Few food disputes in American history carry the playful intensity of the one between Tampa and Miami over the proper composition of a Cuban sandwich. The flashpoint is salami. In Tampa, Genoa salami has been layered between the ham and pork for decades, a tradition most likely seeded by Italian immigrants who lived shoulder to shoulder with Cuban and Spanish workers in Ybor City at the start of the twentieth century. A 1934 travel piece in the Mason City Globe Gazette described the Tampa version as a "complete meal" featuring soft salami alongside ham, lean pork, Swiss cheese, dill pickle, and mustard on crisp Cuban bread. South Florida, by contrast, typically omits the salami entirely. The rivalry escalated in 2012 when the Tampa City Council officially designated the "Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich" as the city's signature sandwich, sparking fresh rounds of banter across both cities. The debate has drawn coverage from national and international outlets, and even produced a 2007 Tampa Tribune column about a content dispute on the English Wikipedia article.
Anatomy of the Press
The construction of a traditional Cuban sandwich follows a precise sequence that transforms simple ingredients into something greater than the sum of its parts. A loaf of Cuban bread is sliced into segments eight to twelve inches long, the crust lightly brushed with butter or olive oil, and the piece split horizontally. Yellow mustard is spread across the interior, followed by layered meats: roast pork (often Pernil or a mojo-marinated cut), glazed ham, and in Tampa, Genoa salami. Swiss cheese and thin ribbons of dill pickle complete the stack. The assembled sandwich is then pressed in a plancha, a flat, groove-free sandwich press that simultaneously applies heat and compression. The goal is a surface that turns slightly crisp while the cheese just begins to soften. Once removed, the sandwich is sliced into two diagonal halves. In Key West, a looser "Cuban mix" variant adds mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato—additions that most Tampa and Miami traditionalists consider a betrayal of the form.
A Sandwich That Crossed the Revolution
The Cuban sandwich's journey beyond Florida's two rival cities is inseparable from the political upheaval that reshaped the island in 1959. Fidel Castro's rise to power triggered a sustained wave of exiles who carried their culinary traditions to new shores. By the 1960s, Miami's cafeterias and restaurants had added the pressed sandwich to their menus in direct response to the growing Cuban community. The diaspora did not stop at the Florida coast; variations of the sandwich now appear in Cuban exile neighborhoods in New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, and Puerto Rico. The sandwich also found a mainstream commercial home through the Florida-based grocery chain Publix, whose delis offer both ready-to-go and freshly pressed versions. Notably, Publix substitutes Boar's Head brand meats and French bread for the traditional Cuban loaf, yet the item remains one of the chain's consistent bestsellers across its Florida stores—a testament to how a workers' lunch from a cigar factory café can become a national comfort food.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the core ingredients of a Cuban sandwich?
A standard Cuban sandwich layers ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on Cuban bread, with some versions adding a slice of salami. The assembled sandwich is then pressed to compress and warm the layers together.
Where and when did the Cuban sandwich first appear?
The sandwich most likely emerged before 1900 in Tampa or Key West, Florida, where local cafes catered to Cuban workers tied to the cigar industry. Its exact origins remain unclear, but it was born within those early Cuban immigrant communities.
Why does the Tampa Cuban sandwich include salami while the Miami version typically does not?
Tampa has included salami in its Cuban sandwich since at least 1934, making it a long-standing regional variation. South Florida versions, popularized later by Cuban exiles and expatriates, generally omit the salami.
How did the Cuban sandwich spread from Tampa to Miami?
Cuban exiles and expatriates carried the sandwich to Miami, where it quickly became a staple of the local food scene. The sandwich thus traveled with the community rather than being independently invented in each city.
Why is the Cuban sandwich considered important to Cuban-American food culture?
The sandwich serves as a tangible link to the early Cuban immigrant experience in Florida's cigar towns. Its continued presence on menus from Tampa to Miami reflects how a simple pressed sandwich became a shared cultural symbol across generations.
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