Sándwich Cubano – a pressed ham and cheese sandwich – or “Cubano” for short is pronounced “cooh-wano” with the hard sound of the letter B slurring into the second syllable.

Back in the 1800s (and early 1900s), when travel between Cuba and Florida was easy, Havana’s cigar factory and sugar mill workers entered Key West, Florida along with Cuban exiles and ex-pats, and brought with them their common lunch sandwich, the Cubano. Today these sandwiches can be found in loncherias (street food vendors) in Tampa and Miami, as well as our hacienda in Montana because trying new things is the cornerstone of a proper culinary adventure.

Making a Cubano is a little more than just slapping a ham sandwich together and tossing it in a panini press. The best gourmet sandwiches don’t happen by chance, you’ve got to balance the moisture with crispiness, stack the relish against the main ingredients, and pick a bread to make all of your ingredients shine, a task made easy with Salsa Lizano and Vi’s Dippin’ Mustard Sauce.

Salsa Lizano is a very delicious, thin, and smooth Costa Rican condiment found ubiquitously everywhere in its country of origin and used in every dish. It could be described as the Latin version of HP Sauce that tastes slightly sweet and acidic, with a hint of cumin. Source the Salsa Lizano on Amazon.

Vi’s Dippin’ Mustard Sauce is a sweet, tangy, and umami-rich mustard sauce handmade right here in Montana. Grab this sauce from us and keep both sauces as your kitchen’s mainstay. A little bit of these sauces goes a long way. It’s always the small touches that make a sandwich whole.
With its cavalier knack for rejuvenating any old recipe, Vi’s Dippin’ Mustard sits on the second shelf of our fridge for easy access and we recommend the same to you. Now it’s your turn to make the best Cubano with Lizano and Vi’d Dippin’ Mustard.