Food

Welcome to the Libation lounge. This is the first of what we hope will be a regular part of Cigar City Magazine.  It’s a celebration of spirits, both the well-known and obscure. I hope to not only let readers in on particular brands and types of liquor that I enjoy, but also on new finds.

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."

In the early 70’s, my wife Jan and I attended a family wedding which included my great Uncle Tony (Zio Nino) Diecidue. Zio Nino, who was known as a master wine-maker in Tampa, spoke about the family’s winemaking tradition that spanned back to Cianciana, Sicily.

I had vague memories as a child of the men getting together at the Diecidue home in Ybor City each year to crush numerous cases of California grapes. The house had a special garage-type building used only for winemaking.

Ever since I was a child, I watched Uncle Sam tend his backyard garden. He spent days preparing the soil, planting, watering, and making sure the vines and stems had just the right amount of support. I remember asking him what he was planting and he said, “Cucuzza” (pronounced ko-KOO-za).

Cioppino (chi-o-pino) is a seafood dish created by Italian fishermen that settled in San Francisco years ago. These immigrant fishermen used local products to recreate their native “Zuppa di Pesce”.

Mama Rosa couldn’t stand people watching her as she cooked–I guess she had to be totally alone in order to concentrate on her creation.

For many years, Columbus Drive has been fondly known as “Boliche Boulevard” because so many Latin restaurants could be found there. The namesake dish is an accurate mascot for Tampa’s Latin comfort food.

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.