World's Largest Cuban Donated To Trinity Cafe

There were no worries about wasting food Saturday, July 27 when Tampa restaurateurs created the world's largest Cuban sandwich. 

After building the record-breaking 49-foot-long sandwich, the chefs simply cut it into pieces, wrapped them up and donated them to Tampa's Trinity Cafe to feed the homeless.

Held at the Ybor City campus of Hilllsborough Community College, the creation of the giant Cuban sandwich was the highlight of the awards ceremony for the second annual Cuban Festival.

The festival was held May 17-18 at the Cuban Club, 2010 Avienda Republica De Cuba, Ybor City, and featured live bands, art, dance troupes and food including a competition among Tampa Bay restaurants to determine who makes the best Cuban sandwich.  

There are an estimated 75,000 Cuban-Americans living in Tampa Bay. But you don't have to be of Cuban descent to enjoy the Cuban sandwich. 

Also known as the cubano, the Cuban sandwich was brought to Florida by Cuban cigar makers in the 1870s, and quickly became a Tampa staple. 

Aficionados create the sandwich by layering Cuban bread with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese and sliced dill pickles. It can be eaten as is but Cuban lovers prefer it grilled in a sandwich press called a plancha. The press reportedly fuses the juices of the meat and gives the bread a desirable crunch. 

Mayonnaise is never used on Cubans. However, there are some acceptable variations including the addition of yellow mustard, butter, Italian Genoa salami or mortadella.

The most important part of the Cuban sandwich is the bread. Cuban bread is noted for its split or bloom down the middle of the crust created by inserting a moist palm frond moist on top of the loaves before baking. The long, crusty loaf was made fresh daily and delivered to homes by delivery boys who would place the loaves on a nail outside the doors of the homes of Cuban immigrants.

The first bakery to bake Cuban bread in Tampa was La Joven Francesca Bakery, established by Francisco Ferlita in 1896. This bakery was a major source of the community's daily bread, selling loaves for 3 and 5 cents, according to YborCityonline.com.

During the peak years, the bakery would produce 1,500 loaves of bread each day. It closed in 1973 and reopened as the Ybor City State Museum in 1974 as part of the museum complex, now known as the Ferlita Bakery. 

The oldest Cuban sandwich shop in Tampa still in business today is The Silver Ring Cafe, started as an Ybor City longshoremen's bar in 1929. 

According to legend, in 1947 the owner saw his staff's preparing Cuban sandwiches for their lunch and decided to add them to the menu. 

But the award winners of Tampa's second annual Cuban sandwich face-off include a generation of new Cuban sandwich makers.

Traditional Cuban Sandwich:
First place: Michelle Faedo’s on the Go
Second place: Dochos Concession
Third place: Papa Joe’s Subs

Non-Traditional Cuban Sandwich:
First place: Michelle Faedo’s on the Go
Second place: Moe’s Hot Dogs
Third place: Country Market & Deli

Popular Vote:
First place: The Stone Soup Company
Second place: Country Market and Deli
Third place: Rubens Cuban Cafe

So, who is your favorite Cuban sandwich maker? Tell us in the "comments" box below.