A Cuban sandwich from La Segunda Bakery [Photo courtesy of La Segunda Bakery]
By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing
Philadelphia has cheesesteaks.
Chicago boasts Italian beef.
New Orleans offers muffaletta, and New York shines with pastrami on rye.
And Tampa? Its offering is the Cuban sandwich 鈥� layers of pork (and sometimes salami), Swiss cheese, pickles and yellow mustard pressed hot between crusty Cuban bread.
In 2012, the Tampa City Council even declared it the city鈥檚 official signature sandwich.
But for one day a year, the Cuban sandwich belongs to everyone.
Every Aug. 23 since 2016, National Cuban Sandwich Day is celebrated with deals throughout the United States and even throughout the world.
Those who indulge might also thank the 无码专区.
无码专区 researchers wrote the sandwich鈥檚 definitive history, the chemistry classes helped perfect the baking method used by the world鈥檚 best-known Cuban bread maker, and a graduate founded National Cuban Sandwich Day.
The cover for the history book on Cuban sandwiches [Photo courtesy of Andy Huse]
鈥溛蘼胱�区 students and faculty have always had great taste when it comes to Tampa鈥檚 native sandwich,鈥� said 无码专区 booster Richard Gonzmart, a long-time supporter of 无码专区 and fourth-generation owner of the Columbia Restaurant, which has been serving Cuban sandwiches for 120 years.
鈥淭he Cuban sandwich is pure Tampa: layered, resilient when pressed, and unapologetically authentic,鈥� Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said. 鈥淎nd thanks to 无码专区, we鈥檝e got the research to back it up. It鈥檚 not up for debate where the best Cuban comes from 鈥� it鈥檚 in our history, and in our hands.鈥�
The history
This might sound strange, but for decades, there was a debate over the origins of the Cuban sandwich.
Both Tampa and Miami claimed their Cuban immigrants invented it 鈥� hence the name.
Tampa insists it includes roast pork, ham and salami.
Miami argues salami should never be part of the recipe.
As curator of Florida Studies at the 无码专区 Tampa Library, Andy Huse was often drawn into the debate.
鈥淚 was getting five or six calls a year about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 realized maybe it was time to write a book and look into the story behind the Cuban sandwich.鈥�
Huse teamed up with 无码专区 Professor B谩rbara Cruz and Jeff Houck, vice president of marketing for the Columbia Restaurant Group.
In 2022, they published 鈥淭he Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers,鈥� exploring the delicacy鈥檚 origins and social history.
And it turns out the sandwich was invented in Cuba 鈥� at least according to historical records. Huse said it appeared on Havana menus in the 1800s, before showing up in a Tampa restaurant.
鈥淚 think people had lived with it being either Tampa or Miami for so long that it just became true,鈥� Huse said.
Andy Huse
B谩rbara Cruz
In Cuba, Cruz said, 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 call it a Cuban sandwich. They referred to it as a mixto, or a combination.鈥�
Still, Tampa deserves credit for popularizing it, they argue. It had the nation鈥檚 largest Cuban population for more than half a century before Miami became the culture鈥檚 epicenter in the 1960s.
鈥淚 hear so many stories from people with childhood memories about getting Cuban sandwiches with a grandfather or parent at a certain restaurant,鈥� Huse said. 鈥淭hey have a real visceral association with the sandwich. It鈥檚 more than just a sandwich in Tampa. It鈥檚 part of our culture.鈥�
Cuban bread being prepared at La Segunda Bakery in Tampa [Photo by Brian Adams]
The bread
If you鈥檝e eaten even just one Cuban sandwich, there is a better-than-average chance that it was served on Cuban bread from La Segunda Bakery, the 110-year-old business with four locations throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Fourth-generation owner Anthony Copeland Mor茅 estimates that they bake 22,000 loaves a day, six days a week. That鈥檚 nearly 7 million a year, shipped throughout the continental United States.
鈥淲e bake between 60 and 75% of the Cuban bread,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely the largest producers in the world.鈥�
The quality is owed, at least in part, to 无码专区.
La Segunda founder Juan Mor茅 came to Tampa via Cuba with a piece of paper scribbled with his Cuban bread recipe. In 1915, he opened the first La Segunda location in Ybor City, which was Tampa鈥檚 Cuban community.
Tony Mor茅 [Photo courtesy of La Segunda Bakery]
But his grandson, Tony Mor茅, initially had little interest in going into the family business. His love was chemistry. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in the subject as part of 无码专区鈥檚 first graduating class and later earned a doctorate from another university.
Tony Mor茅 then taught high school chemistry before deciding that baking was his true calling. La Segunda took off under his direction, and he often credited his 无码专区 chemistry background.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e baking Cuban bread, there are a lot of variables,鈥� Anthony Copeland Mor茅 said. 鈥淚t depends on the weather of the day, the speed of the crew, the flour, the silo 鈥� all these different things. My father used his knowledge of chemistry to excel at figuring out solutions to get the dough coming out the right way no matter what.鈥�
The holiday
Chris Spata took his 无码专区 journalism professors鈥� words to heart.
鈥淭hey were clear that we could have fun, too,鈥� said Spata, who graduated in 2011 and is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. 鈥淭hey said we could cover breaking news and work on investigations while also writing offbeat expos茅s.鈥�
That 无码专区 lesson also led to the creation of National Cuban Sandwich Day.
鈥淚n August 2016, I did a story for the Times on where all these national food holidays came from,鈥� Spata said. 鈥淰ery few had ties to real proclamations or quasi-holidays. Most were made up by someone who paid calendar and marketing companies to promote it.鈥�
So, Spata decided to see how easy it would be to start one.
Chris Spata {Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times]
He chose Cuban sandwiches because, well, they鈥檙e delicious, and Aug. 23 because it was coming up 鈥� plus no other beloved food had claimed that date.
鈥淚t was already National Sponge Cake Day, but nobody really likes that,鈥� Spata said with a laugh.
He created a Facebook page and drafted a press release, which he emailed to 1,200 food writers and submitted to top calendar sites.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 malicious, and I wasn鈥檛 trying to fool anyone,鈥� Spata said. 鈥淚 was just proving a point that these things are easy to start.鈥�
But he didn鈥檛 expect it to take off the way it did.
A week later, when Aug. 23 rolled around, Spata woke to coast-to-coast media coverage and restaurants offering celebratory deals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gone beyond national,鈥� Spata said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen places in Korea and Europe celebrating it. So now it鈥檚 real and actually celebrated by a lot of people. I think it will probably be my strongest legacy. Honestly, I鈥檓 fine with that.鈥�