Thread: Favorite sandwiches

When I was a kid this place was several blocks away from my house and school Back then kids would actually leave school at lunch. Often times we went here.

http://www.freddyspizza.com/gallery.html

I like a lot of sandwiches. A short list would include a proper Philly cheesesteak, baked country ham on a bun, some variation of the Elvis peanut butter and banana concoction deviled ham on white bread and others. But the one that some of you may be familiar with is the palomilla sandwich done Miami style. It is a thin minute steak marinated in mojo on Cuban bread. i have had it with aoli which is tasty, but the classic Miami preparation oft times includes Durkee potato sticks on top of the steak. In Tampa you see the steak breaded empanizada style which I don't like as much. i am not a fan of the Cuban sandwich in either its Miami?Key West to Tampa variants or the Media Noche, (sacrilege down here) but the unbridled pallomilla is some good stuff. The Cuban roast pork sandwich is darn good too, kind of a mojo soaked version of a pulled pork sandwich on Cuban bread.

There is a Depression era concoction that I used to eat as a wee lad in Kentucky, It was called it a "special sandwich" in my family and it may have had its origins in the mining areas of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia in the bad old days. It was softened butter mixed with brown sugar and slathered onto cheap white bread. Uniformly fatal and quite tasty. If it did come from the mines, I am not sure if it would have been a main course or dessert. The lunch tradition in the mines of Appalachia was that you ate your dessert first so it you had a cave in, you would have gotten to eat the best part of your last meal so to speak.

Originally Posted by JDM61

I like a lot of sandwiches. A short list would include a proper Philly cheesesteak, baked country ham on a bun, some variation of the Elvis peanut butter and banana concoction deviled ham on white bread and others. But the one that some of you may be familiar with is the palomilla sandwich done Miami style. It is a thin minute steak marinated in mojo on Cuban bread. i have had it with aoli which is tasty, but the classic Miami preparation oft times includes Durkee potato sticks on top of the steak. In Tampa you see the steak breaded empanizada style which I don't like as much. i am not a fan of the Cuban sandwich in either its Miami?Key West to Tampa variants or the Media Noche, (sacrilege down here) but the unbridled pallomilla is some good stuff. The Cuban roast pork sandwich is darn good too, kind of a mojo soaked version of a pulled pork sandwich on Cuban bread.

Shame to hear that you aren't a fan of the Tampa Version of the Cuban sandwich... I grew up on them so I'm partial, but it's a must-eat when I visit my family back in Tampa.

My brother says that he will convert me eventually. I don't like pickles and I am picky about what I put mustard on, so when I am eating any of the Cuban concoctions, I tend to go with the ones that have a lot of favor in the meat with cooked onions as the secondary flavoring agent. That is why I like the palomilla and roast pork. As far as the Miami vs. Tampa thing, i grew up on Miami Cuban food but I do like the Tampa stuff that is closer to the Spanish original like the Columbia. For my biased South Florida tastes, some of the Cuban stuff in Tampa shows a bit too much Sicilian and redneck influence. The Miami and Key West stuff is a bit more pure. I have yet to find any place up here ( or in Miami today for that matter) that does the palomilla steak with onions and the 3 inch high MOUNTAIN of shoestring french fries on top hiding the steak from view like Lila's in Miami used to do in the old days. At their peak, they had one guy in each of their three restaurants whose only job was to peel and julienne potatoes an the are fried in some horrifically fatal animal fat concoction so they tasted incredible!!!!!.

Originally Posted by RMarsh

Shame to hear that you aren't a fan of the Tampa Version of the Cuban sandwich... I grew up on them so I'm partial, but it's a must-eat when I visit my family back in Tampa.

Crab, fresh from the fjord next door, and mayo on white bread.

Originally Posted by JDM61

My brother says that he will convert me eventually. I don't like pickles and I am picky about what I put mustard on, so when I am eating any of the Cuban concoctions, I tend to go with the ones that have a lot of favor in the meat with cooked onions as the secondary flavoring agent. That is why I like the palomilla and roast pork. As far as the Miami vs. Tampa thing, i grew up on Miami Cuban food but I do like the Tampa stuff that is closer to the Spanish original like the Columbia. For my biased South Florida tastes, some of the Cuban stuff in Tampa shows a bit too much Sicilian and redneck influence. The Miami and Key West stuff is a bit more pure. I have yet to find any place up here ( or in Miami today for that matter) that does the palomilla steak with onions and the 3 inch high MOUNTAIN of shoestring french fries on top hiding the steak from view like Lila's in Miami used to do in the old days. At their peak, they had one guy in each of their three restaurants whose only job was to peel and julienne potatoes an the are fried in some horrifically fatal animal fat concoction so they tasted incredible!!!!!.

I have to agree with you on the Columbia, it's been years since I ate there but it is a very true representation of the classic dishes... I will say that the Tampa Cuban sandwich does seem like kind of an Americanization compared to the Miami style, sort of like a "tex-mex" effect... But I grew up in Tampa not Miami so I will have to take your word since my knowledge is lacking!

Ah Columbia. Love that place. There is a place here in Orlando that is pretty good. Numero Uno Cuban. Their Medianoche is really good.

Banh Mi is another great sandwich. Its vietnamese with pork cilantro and other stuff on french bread, really good.

Originally Posted by cosperryan

Ah Columbia. Love that place. There is a place here in Orlando that is pretty good. Numero Uno Cuban. Their Medianoche is really good.

Banh Mi is another great sandwich. Its vietnamese with pork cilantro and other stuff on french bread, really good.

Oh man you are so right about Banh Mi, I lived in Oklahoma City for a few years which has a sizable Vietnamese population, so pho and banh mi were regular meals for me

The only real difference is that addition of the Genoa salami to the Tampa version of the Cuban. Some of the bigger differences between Tampa and Miami/Key West Cuban food probably arise out of differences in local ingredients like the presence of things like blue crab up here in the Tampa Bay area and things like the aforementioned breading of palomilla and the more widespread use of yellow rice. The Tampa cuisine seems to sometimes be more true to the Spanish original as is seen at the Colombia, yet also shows a lot of the Sicilian and Southern influence that you don't see in the Miami stuff like you would see at other local institutions in Tampa such as he Silver Ring or a true Cuban-Italian hybrid like Carmines. As for the Key West version, while it may have been different 100 years ago, it pretty much follows the Mimai pattern today. On the other hand, the Miami Cuban cuisine has probably gone a lot more "upscale" and "fusion" of late because it is a dominant form of cooking in a very wealthy and fashionable city.

Originally Posted by RMarsh

I have to agree with you on the Columbia, it's been years since I ate there but it is a very true representation of the classic dishes... I will say that the Tampa Cuban sandwich does seem like kind of an Americanization compared to the Miami style, sort of like a "tex-mex" effect... But I grew up in Tampa not Miami so I will have to take your word since my knowledge is lacking!