Miami say the sandwich, or some version of it, was a pre-Revolution staple of cafeterias and bodegas in Havana. Tampa begs to differ! Read our story Welcome to Cuban Sandwich City HERE first. Then take a look at the artcile in The Miami Herald and tell us what you think!!

Beginning in 1886, immigrants from Spain, Italy, and Cuba fled poverty and warfare to seek new lives in Tampa. The tumultuous cigar industry provided some shocks of its own. Violence, strikes and work stoppages in the cigar factories reminded all how tough things could be on a regular basis. An erratic cycle of feast and famine continued in Ybor City for fifty years. The Cuban sandwich rose in popularity during the 1920s, when electric sandwich presses and toasters became more common. During the Great Depression, the filling sandwiches served as a Latin-flavored equivalent of New Orleans' "Po' Boy."

Several of Tampa’s most notable culinary creations are also reminders of how difficult life could be. The elongated loaves of Cuban bread betray a history of hunger and rationing during Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. The Cuban sandwich turned those thin loaves into symbols of plenty. Tampa’s deviled crab croquettes tell a similar story of want and abundance.

Back then, the Miranda family lived right next to Nane’s house, and their main source of income was making and selling deviled crabs. Three boys, one girl, mother and father. The father caught the crabs out of Tampa Bay, the family made the croquettas together, and the father sold them on his bicycle.

After the bread dough has been kneaded, it is shaped into long ropes of dough and cut into lengths. A strand of the wet palmetto is placed along the center top of the loaf. The loaf is then placed frond side down to rise.

Rose V. Ferlita is a Tampa native from “The Heart of Tampa” –Ybor City. Her father and his four brothers, and her Grandfather before them, owned and operated a family business–Ferlita Bakery, which is now home to the Ybor State Museum.

Rose Ferlita is running for Mayor of Tampa.