These 2 Cuban Sandwich Condiments Are Must-Haves, According To Wolfgang Puck

Celebrity chefs, much like the rest of us, tend to play favorites when it comes to certain foods, and that includes the humble sandwich. Whether it's Ina Garten, who craves tuna melts, or Chef Wolfgang Puck, who prefers a classic Cuban, celebrity chefs tend to gravitate to specific sandwiches. The Cuban, or Cubano, typically includes roast pork, ham, and Swiss cheese on Cuban bread, which is similar to French bread but includes lard in its recipe. It's then flattened in either a panini press or on a griddle. But according to Puck, the internationally renowned Austrian-born chef with a global culinary empire, you can't make a Cubano without certain condiments to balance out the flavors. 

"Just be sure to include yellow ballpark-style mustard and dill pickle slices to achieve just the right tangy flavor," he insisted in a 2016 article published in the Detroit Free Press. While the celebrated chef didn't get into the mustard he personally uses, popular brands utilized for this iconic sandwich include French's and Cuban-style mustard, like Plochman's, which includes garlic and white wine in the recipe. As for dill pickles, Puck goes with the kind sliced lengthwise, rather than dill chips. Funnily enough, though, the celebrity chef is actually less picky about some of the other ingredients in the Cuban.

While chef Wolfgang Puck absolutely insists on yellow mustard and dill pickle slices for his Cubano, the celebrity chef is pretty free-wheeling with the bread and meat. He uses French bread. Otherwise, as the chef advised in the Detroit Free Press, "You can use any assortment of fillings you want, including roast pork or other leftover meat." This is truer to the origins of this sandwich that was born in Havana, Cuba, in the early 1900s than you might think. They were originally called "mixto" sandwiches and were served by pushcart owners known as luncheros. One version even included foie gras, according to the "The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers."

However, it's worth noting that pickles and mustard were key ingredients early on, so Puck including them isn't that wild. These delicious sandwiches quickly spread to Cuban-American hotspots like Key West, Tampa Bay, and Miami. Interestingly, Puck's take is actually a Tampa-style version of the Cuban since it includes salami, which may have been influenced by Italian immigrants in the area. Whether it's the Key West version, without salami, or Miami style, which often includes other ingredients like tomatoes and lettuce, do not skimp on the yellow mustard and dill pickles if you want to create the perfect Cubano, Wolfgang Puck-style.