Cubano Sandwich
Pressed Cuban bread filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The sandwich chef Carl Casper rediscovers his passion for cooking making, in the movie Chef.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 1 h 40 min
- total
- 2 h 10 min
- serves
- 4
- level
- medium
In Chef (2014), a burned-out restaurant chef named Carl Casper rediscovers his love of cooking by selling Cubanos from a food truck, and the film treats the sandwich's build, roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, pressed hot and flat, almost reverently on screen.
The press really is the whole technique here. Nothing about this sandwich works as a cold deli sandwich; it needs real heat and real weight to turn the bread crisp and melt everything together.
Part of our 40 famous movie foods list.
method
Rub the pork shoulder with garlic, orange juice, lime juice, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Marinate for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
Roast at 160°C (320°F) for about 2.5 to 3 hours, until very tender, basting occasionally with the pan juices.
Rest, then slice or shred the pork.
Split each roll, and spread mustard on both cut sides.
Layer the ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese and pickles onto the bottom half of each roll, and close with the top half.
Butter the outside of each sandwich lightly, and press in a hot sandwich press or a heavy pan with another heavy pan or foil-wrapped brick on top, for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the bread is crisp and golden and the cheese has melted.
Slice diagonally, and serve hot.
chef's tips
- The press is not optional. A Cubano is defined by being pressed hot and flat until the bread turns crisp and the layers fuse together, and skipping it just leaves you with a cold deli sandwich.
- Mustard, not mayonnaise, is the traditional Cuban spread for this sandwich, and it is worth sticking to for an authentic flavor.
- In Chef (2014), Carl Casper rediscovers his love of cooking making and selling Cubanos from a food truck, and the sandwich's two-layer pork, pairing roasted pork shoulder with ham, is treated almost reverently on screen.
- Roast the pork shoulder low and slow rather than quickly at high heat; it is what gets the meat tender enough to shred or slice easily for the sandwich.