Sometime between now and the Fourth of July, Andy Huse will try to make the perfect Cuban sandwich.
Think for a second about what that means.
Instead of sliced pork from the deli, Huse is going to roast a pork shoulder the way it used to be done back in the heydays of Ybor City, when it took 30 hours to properly marinate and roast.
There will be no processed ham. Regular salami is out of the question as well. Today's cold cuts are designed for longevity, not flavor. Their saltiness adds a flavor profile that is nothing like the original's. It would be like rebuilding the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria with fiberglass and outboard motors.
"The personal goal I have is to do all the meats myself," Huse says. "I need to have it out with the sandwich so I can let it go and move on with my life."
To Huse, a University of South Florida food historian who obsesses about Tampa's historic foodways, the Cuban sandwich born in Tampa is a work of art. He gave a seminar recently at the Tampa Bay History Museum in Channelside about the sandwich and its many nuances.
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