Characteristics
It is not amiss to say that the Latins in Ybor City make a very fine bread, equal in all respects to the French article of that kind and unexcelled by the Vienna product. -Tampa Daily Journal, 1896
A traditional loaf of Cuban bread is approximately three feet long and somewhat rectangular crossways (as compared to the rounder shape of Italian or French bread loaves). It has a hard, thin, almost papery toasted crust and a soft flaky middle. In the early days, the dough was stretched thin to make it last, creating the bread's distinctive air pockets and long shape. As they have for decades, La Segunda and other traditional Cuban bread makers lay a long, moist palm frond on top of the loaves before baking, creating a shallow trench in the upper crust, producing an effect similar to the slashing of a European-style loaf. (The frond is removed before eating.)
Cuban bread is the necessary base for a 'Cuban sandwich' (sometimes called a "sandwich mixto"). It can also be served as a simple breakfast, especially toasted and pressed with butter and served alongside (and perhaps dunked into) a hot mug of cafe con leche (strong dark-roasted Cuban coffee with scalded milk).
Cuban bread should be eaten soon after baking, as it tends to go stale quickly. (In Ybor City, it was said that after 24 hours, Cuban bread is only good for breading a deviled crab.) It can also be frozen.
Stale Cuban bread is the preferred "weapon of choice" in protests performed by the Conch Republic.
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