Cuban bread

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cuban bread is a fairly simple bread, usually made with lard instead of oil that originated on the island of Cuba. It is similar to French bread, but has a slightly different cooking method and ingredient list. It is a staple of Cuban cuisine and is necessary to make an authentic Cuban sandwich.

[edit] U.S. History

The first bakery to bake Cuban bread in the U.S. was most likely La Joven Francesca Bakery in Tampa. In 1896, La Joven was established by Sicilian baker, Francisco Ferlita. This bakery was a major supplier of the Tampa area's bread consumables and bread sold for between 3 and 5 cents a loaf.

Ferlita Bakery, Ybor City, Florida

1922 saw the destruction of the bakery, when it burned to the ground, leaving only the brick bread oven standing. Francisco rebuilt the bakery even larger than before, and it became a major supplier of bread for the Tampa area, with delivery boys distributing bread throughout the area. The bakery became a place to congregate, drink a good cup of Cuban coffee, and catch up on the local news.

In Ybor City, bread used to be delivered every morning like milk. Houses had a sturdy nail driven into the doorframe next to the door. The bread deliveryman would impale the fresh loaf of bread on the nail.

La Joven found a new life in 1974 when it was reincarnated as Ybor City State Museum, becoming the central part of the Museum complex.

The La Segunda Bakery ('The Second' as La Primera 'The First' burned down long ago) is currently the major producer of Cuban Bread for the Tampa area. It was founded by Juan Morè, who migrated to Tampa, FL, and opened La Primera (The First) Bakery in 1915.

The recipe they use creates a lovely blooming loaf of bread, caused by placing a long, moist, palm frond on the top of the bread as it bakes. The recipe in the Wikibooks cookbook for Cuban Bread is a restaurant quantity recipe, so some adjustment is needed for household consumption. A traditional loaf of Cuban bread is approximately three feet long, and somewhat rectangular in shape crossways (as compared to the rounder shape of Italian or French bread loaves). It has a crispy, flakey, chewy outer crust, with a light consistency inside.

This bread makes an excellent base for the cubano or 'Cuban sandwich' which is a sandwich of roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, and mustard. The sandwich is assembled, and then the bread is buttered, and sometimes pressed in a sandwich press. It's also excellent for breakfast, with a hot mug of cafe con leche (milk coffee) and toasted in a sandwich press with butter.

Cuban bread is best eaten when fresh, as it goes stale quickly because no preservatives are used. It can also be frozen.