Cuban bread Totally Explained

Everything about Cuban Bread totally explained

Cuban bread is a fairly simple white bread, similar to French bread and Italian bread, but has a slightly different cooking method and ingredient list (in particular, it generally includes a small amount of fat in the form of lard or vegetable shortening); it's usually made in long, baguette-like loaves. It is a staple of Cuban-American cuisine and is necessary to make an authentic Cuban sandwich.

History

There is some debate about the true source of "real" Cuban bread, with both Miami and Tampa, Florida claiming to be the home of the best. However, it's true that the first bakery to bake Cuban bread in the U.S. was most likely La Joven Francesca Bakery in Ybor City, the Latin Quarter of Tampa. In 1896, La Joven was established by Sicilian baker, Francisco Ferlita. This bakery sold bread for 3 to 5 cents a loaf, mainly to the Ybor City market.
   The bakery was destroyed by fire in 1922, leaving only the brick bread oven standing. Francisco rebuilt the bakery even larger than before, adding a second oven, and it became a major supplier of bread for the Tampa/Ybor area. The bakery also 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 closed in 1973, but soon found new life when it was renovated and converted into the Ybor City State Museum, becoming the main part of the museum complex. The original ovens where the original Cuban bread was baked are still viewable inside.
   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 Bakery in 1915 .

Characteristics

A traditional loaf of Cuban bread is approximately three feet long and somewhat rectangular crossways (as compared to the rounder shape of Italian or French bread loaves). It has a hard, thin, almost papery toasted crust and a soft flakey middle. In the early days, the dough was stretched thin to make it last, creating the bread's distinctive air pockets and long shape. As they've for decades, La Segunda and other traditional Cuban bread makers lay a long, moist palm frond on top of the loaves before baking, creating a shallow trench in the upper crust, producing an effect similar to the slashing of a European-style loaf. (The frond is removed before eating.)
Cuban bread is the necessary base for a 'Cuban sandwich' (sometimes called a "sandwich mixto"). It can also be served as a simple breakfast, especially toasted and pressed with butter and served alongside (and perhaps dunked into) a hot mug of cafe con leche (strong dark-roasted Cuban coffee with scalded milk).
Cuban bread should be eaten soon after baking, as it tends to go stale quickly. (In Ybor City, it was said that after 24 hours, Cuban bread is only good for breading a deviled crab.) It can also be frozen.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Cuban Bread'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://cuban_bread.totallyexplained.com">Cuban bread Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.