Country 41: Cuba - Jackfruit Sandwiches

I actually haven't heard great things about Cuban food. One of my previous colleagues actually went over to Cuba a few years ago and got severe food poisoning, and that was from only eating at the more upscale restaurants, so that doesn't leave much to the imagination about the quality of the food. I know that Cuba has a complicated history that I don't know loads about, but the New York times wrote that coronavirus certainly hasn't helped the economy there, and the country is currently facing the worst food shortage in 25 years.

With this in mind, I found it difficult to choose something to cook for my Cuban meal. And then I recalled one of my favourite films, Jon Favreau's Chef (2014). I love it. You pair a roadtrip across the USA with food and throw in some wonderful character growth and family moments and you've got a fun, heartwarming movie. The premise is that a world-class chef quits has job, buys a food truck and begins to operate it with his young son. It's a wonderful film and I highly recommend. They sell Cuban sandwiches. 

The marinated jackfruit ready to bake

Cuban sandwiches are a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich and I believe they originated in the USA, namely Tampa and Key West in Florida which were two cities with high Cuban populations. Cubans moved across to work in the cigar industry. The sandwich is typically made with roasted pork, ham, mustard, pickles and cheese. Reading the Wikipedia page about Cuban sandwiches, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact whereabouts of where the sandwich was born, as there were so many people travelling between Florida and Cuba at the time. 

Mustard

Obviously, roast pork and ham wasn't going to work for me, but I thought that this would be a good time as any to try cooking jackfruit for the first time. Jackfruit has been extremely up-and-coming in vegetable cuisine, namely for the way that it is able to shred easily and take on other flavours, similar to pulled pork. I did have jackfruit in a burrito about a week before I cooked my Cuban meal and it wasn't terrible, so I was curious to try cooking it myself. 

Cheese

The sandwiches were actually incredibly easy. I blended the jackfruit, added the sauce, threw it all in the oven and while I waited for it to cook and I got everything else ready. The difficult was actually pressing the sandwich in the pan - when we moved flats a year ago, we somehow managed to misplace our George Foreman grill, a devastating blow. If we had had that, these sandwiches would have been a dream. As it was, I used a large frying pan and then placed a large heavy pan on top of the sandwich in the pan to press it down. Then I flipped the sandwich and repeated on the other side to make both pieces of bread crispy. To be fair, this worked really well and I think it's something I would repeat should I need to.

Layering the pickles and Quorn ham

My one true regret of this meal is that I didn't rinse the jackfruit before I used it. It came tinned in brine. Unfortunately, the brine was absolutely the dominant flavour throughout the meal. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I definitely feel like I should have read the instructions more thoroughly and if I had, I would have had a nicer time of it. I now have a container of leftover cooked jackfruit in the fridge that I'm really unsure what to do with. I think I might chuck it into the slowcooker and add a bottle of barbecue sauce, and hopefully turn it into something that might be a bit more pleasant to eat.

The only image I got of "pressing" the sandwiches - oops

Other than that, I think the sandwiches turned out really well! I served them with fried plantain (a classic!). The bread was crispy, the cheese melted very impressively... The only negative I maintain is the briney-ness of the jackfruit. A disappointment, but certainly something that I have learned from!

I adapted my recipe from this one. 

Cuban Jackfruit Sandwiches

Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander, optional
• 2 teaspoons onion salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cans jackfruit in brine, drained and rinsed - DO NOT FORGET TO RINSE IT
• 4 Cuban rolls (or crusty sandwich rolls)
• Yellow mustard
• 8 slices cheddar cheese
• 8 slices Quorn ham 
• Dill pickle slices
• 2 tablespoons butter
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with parchment/foil.
2. In a large bowl mix together orange juice, lime juice, mayonnaiase, maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, coriander (if using), onion salt, cumin, and pepper. 
3. Use a food processor to chop the jackfruit. Add jackfruit to the bowl with marinade and mix well. 
4. Spread the jackfruit on the baking tray and bake for about 30-45 minutes until the edges start to brown slightly. 
5. Split the bread rolls and spread mustard on both sides. Place a slice of cheese on each side, then layer Quorn ham, pickles and jackfruit in the middle. 
6. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Place a sandwich in the pan with something heavy on top of it to squish it down - if you have a sandwich press, use this instead. Sandwiches should be pressed down to about half the size of their original thickness. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until the sandwiches have flattened, the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted.
7. Cut in half and serve. I served mine with fried plantain.