T
BY ANDREW HUSE
his magazine could have easily been named after the Cuban Sandwich. These days, Tampa can be more easily identified by that savory creation than the cigar. Like Cuban cigars, it can be mighty difficult to find a fine Cuban sandwich. Unlike Cuban Cigars, one could argue that the so-called Cuban sandwich is more Tampa than Havana. As Cigar City Magazine launches its second issue, it is especially appropriate to re-examine our town’s distinctive sandwich. 16
CIGAR CITY MAGAZINE
University of South Florida, Tampa Library, Special Collections Department
WELCOME TO CUBAN SANDWICH CITY
People in Miami often talk as if they invented the Cuban sandwich, but they are pretenders to the throne. In the early 1900s, workers in Cuba brought simple “mixto” sandwiches to work or bought them at cafes. These cold-cut concoctions took on a new character in Tampa, influenced by Ybor City’s vibrant mix of immigrant cultures. By the 1920s, the old “mixtos” coalesced into something more distinct–the Cuban sandwiches we know and love–an original Tampa creation. Beginning in 1886, immigrants from Spain, Italy, and Cuba fled poverty and warfare to seek new lives in Tampa. The tumultuous cigar industry provided some shocks of its own. Violence, strikes and work stoppages in the cigar factories reminded all how tough things could be on a regular basis. An erratic cycle of feast and famine continued in Ybor City for fifty years. The Cuban sandwich rose in popularity during the 1920s, when electric sandwich presses and toasters became more common. During the Great Depression, the filling sandwiches served as a Latin-flavored equivalent of New Orleans’ “Po’ Boy.”