This misnamed sandwich has caused friction between US cities

3 hours ago 3

Ben Groundwater

October 27, 2025 — 5:00am

The dish: Cuban sandwich, US

An authentic cuban sandwich.iStock

Plate up

There’s a funny thing that happens when you go to Cuba and order a Cuban sandwich. No one has any idea what you’re talking about. It’s a case of, “in Cuba it’s just called a sandwich”. Or, more likely, a mixto. But the interesting thing is that this famous snack is not native to the island nation that carries its name: the Cubano is actually American, created less than 200 kilometres from Cuba, and yet born in another world.

But we’ll get to that. First, let’s eat, and for that you need Cuban bread, which is a long loaf similar to a baguette, though wider and with a softer crust. That loaf is cut into sandwich-sized hunks, which are then sliced in half and filled with yellow mustard, roast pork (sometimes marinated in mojo, a capsicum-based sauce), glazed ham and salami, plus Swiss cheese and thinly sliced dill pickles. The lot is then grilled in a deli press, which compresses the sandwich and its contents, until the cheese melts. It’s then sliced diagonally, and eaten.

First serve

There’s an argument over where the Cuban sandwich originated, though it’s not between the US and Cuba. It’s between Tampa and Miami. Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was plenty of movement between Cuba and Florida, thanks in part to the cigar-making industry, which in the US was based in Tampa.

The theory goes that there was a popular sandwich known as a “mixto” that Cuban workers like to eat in their home country; in either Tampa, Miami or Key West, all of which played host to large Cuban migrant communities, that sandwich was then tweaked with local-favourite ingredients, and a staple was born.

Order there

Tampa boasts no shortage of places to try an excellent Cubano – try La Segunda, a legendary bakery (lasegundabakery.com).

Order here

To sample a Cuban sandwich in Sydney, visit the new A.P Quay (apbakery.com.au). In Melbourne, Bowery to Williamsburg (bowerytowilliamsburg.com.au) does a sandwich that’s actually a “medianoche”, closely related to the Cubano. And in Brisbane, check out Joe’s Deli (joesdeliofficial.com).

One more thing

After tiring of their long-running rivalry with Miami, in 2012 local Tampa authorities sought to stake a final claim for the Cubano, voting to name the “Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich” as the city’s “signature sandwich”. So there.

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Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.