My hometown isn't the part of Florida known for its Cuban sandwiches. But we have enough Cubans in Pensacola (like, one family) to bring an excellent Cuban restaurant, which happens to be at the airport.
When I arrived way too early for my flight out of town, I got to enjoy an excellent coda to my fried seafood bonanza: a midday Cuban mix. A cubano consists of roasted pork, thinly sliced ham, cheese (usually Swiss), mustard, and pickles, pressed on French-style bread (most authentically, Cuban bread). For all of the history and firsthand deliciousness . . .
Cuban sandwiches migrated to South Florida along with Cuban cigar workers in the late 1800s, where the pressed sandwiches served as cheap and hearty lunches. Since Tampa also had a substantial Italian population, salami sometimes showed up in Cuban sandwiches, made on bread baked by Sicilians. Either way, the recipe is pretty much identical to that of a Cuban favorite called a medianoche, because it's often consumed in the middle of the night, after dancing.
Post-dancing or pre-flight, this sandwich is hard to beat. The Pensacola airport version benefited from fluffy bread pressed into submission to perfectly balance the layers of flavor. The salty ham didn't overpower the sweet pork, the yellow mustard played perfectly off the pickles, and those French fries? Superb. Have you had a great cubano lately? Please dish the details.
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