Ethnic Food Project

As a way to stir things up, we decided to encounter Cuban cuisine by hunting down the Cuban sandwiches on board El Floridano, a traveling food truck that delivers Cuban sandwiches, banh mi, soups, and perhaps some other menu items around the D.C. area. El Floridano is still learning the area and the best way to approach his business. He informed us that he’s still trying to find a neighborhood that provides the best return. So far, this has proven to be Southeast rather than Northeast. To find out where he is going to be, follow his Twitter, FLmeetsDC. When we met him, he was parked outside the Starbucks in Foggy Bottom.

Cuban cuisine, like the cuisine in other Caribbean nations, is influenced by trade, colonization, and immigration. The primary influences in Cuban cuisine include Spain, Africa, surrounding Caribbean nations, and China. According to Miami.edu, very little of Cuban food is fried or served with heavy sauces; most of it is slow-cooked with only a few spices over open flame. The primary staples in the Cuban diet include rice and beans. According to Wikipedia:

A typical meal would consist of rice and beans, cooked together or apart. When cooked together the recipe is called either, “Arroz congri“, “Congri“, or “Arroz moro” if cooked separately it is called “Arroz con/y Frijoles”–Rice with/and Beans.” A main course (mainly pork or beef), some sort of vianda (not to be confused with the French viande which stands for “meat”, this term encompasses several types of tubers, such as yuca, malanga, and potato, as well as plantains, unripe bananas and even corn), a salad (usually simply composed of tomato, lettuce and avocado, though cucumber, carrots, cabbage and radish are not uncommon). Curiously, typical criollo [Spanish-influenced] meals largely ignore fruit, except ripe plantains, which are usually consumed together with the rice and beans. Tropical fruit could be served, however, depending on each family’s preferences. Usually, all dishes are brought together to the table at once, except maybe for desserts.

There are also regional variations in Cuban food. Western Cuban food is criollo, and includes finger foods like sweet Cuban pastries, the use of eggs, fish, crab, and is influenced by Galician and Asturian migration during the early 20th century (paella, arroz con pollo, etc.). Eastern Cuban food is influenced more by Africa and other Caribbean nations like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Wikipedia provides the example of “mofongo (called fufú de plátano in Cuba), which is mashed plantains stuffed with pork, chicken, or seafood. The name ‘fufu‘ comes from Western Africa.”

Sandwiches are also an important part of the Cuban diet – and not just the Cuban sandwich. Others include the medianoche, which is similar to a Cuban sandwich, but with an egg loaf in place of the Cuban bread and sometimes without the ham (medianoche means “midnight” and this is a common late night nightclub snack in Havana). Additionally, the pan con lechón and pan con bistec are also similar to the Cuban sandwich; they are pressed sandwiches with Cuban bread, onions, and mojito, and either roasted pork or flank steak, respectively. One interesting sandwich is the Elena Ruz, which contains a lyer of cream cheese, strawberry jam, and thin slices of turkey atop Cuban bread. This sandwich was requested by the socialite Elean Ruz during the 1930s. Another sweet and savory sandwich is the  pan con timba, which has guayaba paste and cream cheese. 

The history of the Cuban sandwich itself reflects Cuba’s history of migration. The sandwich is also known as a cubano, and in Cuba itself, simply as a sandwich or sandwich mixto. The components of the sandwich include, according to The Cuban sandwich, “Cuban bread (cut lengthwise and buttered on both sides to prevent browning during the grilling process), mustard, dill pickles, roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, and slow roasted pork marinated in mojo. The sandwich is then lightly grilled in a plancha (sandwich press) until the cheese is melted and the bread toasted. The sandwich should be compressed to about 1/3 of its original size.”

Original inhabitants of Cuba did not have access to ham, but did have access to cheese. The History of the Cuban Sandwich notes that ham was brought by the Spaniards in the form jamonada (which is more like a chopped ham). The indigenous Taino/Arakaks were already making cheese, although the Spanish brought this, as well, and were making a crispy flat bread from cassava or yuca flour. However, it took over 400 years to actually create and perfect this sandwich.

The Cuban sandwich blurs the line between an authentic Cuban meal and an American-Cuban meal, although it is served both in southern Florida and in Cuba. The History of the Cuban Sandwich describes the timeline, which we’ve condensed:

1870s: Cubans travel the 90 miles to Key West, Florida, to avoid Spanish rule and to find a safer place to manufacture cigars, initiating the strong Cuban influence found in Florida today.

1886: A fire destroys a major cigar factory in Key West, leading the owner to move the operation to Tampa. He was Vincente Martinez Ybor, leading to Ybor City, a suburb known for the Cuban sandwich. By the 1930s, Ybor City flourished as a Cuban community, especially since economic depression in Cuba lead to more immigration.

1910: Cigar factory workers began selling sandwiches for 15 cents each. These sandwiches also often included genoa salami, since Ybor City was also populated by Italians. The Cuban sandwich becomes a sandwich of the people, the favorite food of the common working man.

Wikipedia’s “The Cuban Sandwich,” finishes up the story by noting that around 1910 onwards, “travel between Cuba and Florida was easy, and Cubans frequently sailed back and forth for employment, pleasure, and family visits. Because of this constant and largely undocumented movement of people and culture and ideas, it’s impossible to say exactly when and where the Cuban sandwich first became a common worker’s meal. By around 1910, however, workers’ cafés in Cuba, Ybor City, and the older Cuban enclave of Key West were serving many such sandwiches daily.” Consequently, the Cuban sandwich is both a typical meal in both Cuba and the US today.

Our Cuban sandwich from El Floridano was the traditional variety. The sandwich contained yellow mustard, pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, etc. atop a light and thin bread that was then pressed on the grill top. We liked the fact that the sandwich was long and thin, wrapped in paper, and was sealed with a a sticker so that it resembled a cigar, suggesting that El Floridano understood the history of the Cuban sandwich. We also recommend buying Boylan’s Fruit Mash as a counterpart to the sandwich.

TOTAL: $9 for a Cuban sandwich and a Boylan’s drink

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Pho 75 is a no frills Vietnamese restaurant located in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington. Seriouseats.com attempts to explain why pho restaurants always seem in incorporate numbers. The numbers individual owners choose are often lucky numbers. Repetition is desirable, as well as dates that are important in Vietnamese history or an owner’s personal life. Actually, Pho 75 restaurants are probably honoring 1975, the year Saigon fell. Although pho restaurants seem ubiquitous, and ubiquitously Vietnamese, actually pho is a distinctly Northern Vietnamese dish. According to Wikiepdia, pho was a common street food typically sold by street vendors in large boxes. Pho restaurants weren’t opened in Vietnam until the 1920s and actually has French and Chinese influences:

One theory advanced at the seminar is that the name comes from the French feu (fire), as in the dish pot-au-feu, which like phở uses the French method of adding charred onion to the broth for color and flavor, one of the techniques which distinguishes phở from other Asian noodle soups. Some believe the origin of the word to be the Chinese fen (this character is pronounced phấn in Vietnamese.

There are some regional variations in pho, particularly between the different regions of Vietnam. Wikepdia notes that there are three regions and types of pho: “northern (Hanoi, called phở bắc or “northern phở“; or phở Hà Nội), central (Huế), and southern (Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon).”  Regional variations include sweeter pho or using bolder and spicier flavors. Northern pho uses wider noodles and green onions. At Pho 75, the noodles did not look particularly broad, but our pho did contain green onions. Southern pho has the thinner noodles as compared to Northern pho. Our pho seemed to be the Southern pho variation, despite the green onions. Southern pho tends to have bean sprouts, a greater variety of fresh herbs (such as hung que, or Thai/Asian basil), meat/broth variations, and tuong (bean sauce/hoisin suace). Pho 75 has a large variety  of different types of meats available and all of our pho came with herbs and spouts, etc., which was served on a communal plate. Despite all these variations, pho didn’t actually become popular in South Vietnam until the mid-1950s.

Our pho was served in large steaming bowls and came with green onions. The side dish of herbs and vegetables included sprouts, basil, and green chilies. The table also had a selection of condiments, including sriracha and hoisin sauce.

At Pho 75, seemingly one surly man runs the whole place and waits on all he diners, which can be quite a few during peak hour. The servings were large and steaming. Ordering a large bowl and being able to eat the whole thing would be difficult. We ordered well-done brisket, which featured thin slices of beef, allowing it to stay tender. The pho by itself was not particularly flavorful, but the addition of the herbs, sprouts, and condiments made it sweeter, spicier, and more textured. The bean sprouts gave it a pleasing crunch. We also tried the pho containing meat balls, which were fattier than typical meat balls and made the soup a little greasier. Pho 75 also serves the following meat variations: eye-of-round steak, well-done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon, tripe, skirt flank, and chicken noodle soup. We ordered the regular bowls and were completely filled. In fact, no one could completely clean their bowls.

The red bottle of sriracha sauce made us wonder about the history of this sauce and what country it originates from, since it seems over present in a variety of restaurants. The New York Times had an interesting article explaning the sriracha’s history. Actually, sriracha is manufactured by Huy Fong Foods and was created by a mysterious Mr. Tran, who was Chinese but born in Vietnam. He said that he invented the sauce for the Asian community after coming to America and being inspired by Heinz 57 ketchup. He developed the sauce in Los Angeles in the early 1980s as his own version of a traditional Asian chili sauce. Sriracha is a town in the Chonburi Province of Thailand where, ironically, they do not recognize the infamous sauce and prefer to make their own homemade hot sauces. Evidence of sriracha’s multicultural focus is reflected on the bottle, which displays ingredients five languages and suggests using it on pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, and more. Mr. Tran added the rooster as a formal symbol of his product.

In addition to pho, we also tried some of the drinks listed on the menu. Pho 75 features some of the most traditional dishes and desserts, like sticky rice based desserts and gelatin based desserts. We ordered Vietnamese coffee, which was extremely strong. We also ordered a canned sweet and mild soybean drink and a refreshing coconut water drink, which came with a slice of young coconut.

Although we did not get to try any other Vietnamese cuisine, we learned that the yin yang balance applies to preparation of traditional meals, designed to match ingredients to seasons, climate, and the health of the diner. In addition to pho and noodle soups, Vietnamese cuisine also includes congees, rice dishes, dumplings, pancakes, wraps, rolls, sandwiches, pastries, seafood, curries, and pickled vegetable dishes. We’re particularly curious about Vietnamese sandwich stands, and hear there are several in the Eden Center area of Falls Church.

TOTAL: Large bowl is $7.20, regular bowl is $6.20, drinks are between $1.50-2

UPDATE

We decided to venture further into Vietnamese cuisine and try bánh mì, the infamous Vietnamese sandwiches, at Song Que in Eden Center (Falls Church adjacent to Seven Corners). Song Que is clean, well-lit, and packed with Vietnamese dessert and snack foods on long tables, as well as heated pastries, bubble tea, produce, banh mi, and more.

Bánh mì is a sandwich served on a baguette (made form both wheat and rice flour) which contains vegetables (like pickled carrots, daikon radish, lettuce, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, etc.), a meat or vegetarian filling, and condiments (ncluding mayonnaise, fish sauce, etc.). The sandwich is a direct result of the colonial impact of the French on Indochina, which brought its sandwich tradition. Battle of the Bánh Mì notes that most sandwiches seem skimpy on the meat, but these sandwiches are made to Vietnamese tastes, which lean towards light meat fillings.Battle of the Bánh Mì of the lists the following fillings as traditional:

1. 1. Chả or Chả Lụa (Pork Roll)- Ground up pork is packed tightly into a roll, and wrapped with banana leaves (and or aluminum foil) then steamed or boiled, hence producing the dense “pork roll”. Sliced thin like bologna, these make up one of the most common cold cuts found in bánh mì.
2. 2. Thịt Nguội (Cured pork cold cuts)- Thịt Nguội (translated as “Cooled Meats”), is the second most common cold cut filling. Usually made of cured pork & layered with strips of fat. Some makers will call itBa Chị, which is more like pork belly.
3. 3. Giò Thú (Headcheese)-These cuts are usually a Vietnamese combination of pork ears, tendons, skin, fats and other extra pork head meats. It’s all processed together into a roll, then sliced.
4. 4. Dặc Biệt (Special or Combination)- Every menu has a Combination or House Special, which is a combination of at least one of the following: the pork roll, headcheese and/or cold cuts. Some shops offer ham as an offering to the cold cuts, as well as adding their special house touch of other meats.
5. 5. Thịt Nướng (Grilled Pork)- Vietnamese marinated grilled pork. Cuts of pork meat can be anything from pork belly, pork shoulder, pork chops or pork butt.
6. 6. Xa Xíu (Bar-B-Que Pork)- Sweet, pinkish colored pork cooked to the style of chinese bar-b-que. Cuts of pork can also vary like those of grilled pork.
7. 7. Xíu Mại (Pork MeatBalls)- Moist Pork Meatballs cooked in a usually, sweet, often lightly tomato based sauce. Ground pork is marinated Việt style.
8. 8. Bì (Shredded Pork Skin)- Most traditional Bì is a creation of dry, thinly sliced pork skin. To accommodate the more American palettes, some bánh mì creations come with traditional Bì along with more moist, shredded pork pieces.
9. 9. Nem Nướng (Grilled Pork patties)- These versatile, garlic, ground pork patties are popular in many fresh springroll and herb noodle salad dishes. They make a very tasty in bánh mì.
10. 10. Nem Chua (Sour Pork) – Usually eaten as a snack with raw garlic, these little squares of sour pork meat are showing up on banh mi menu’s more often. Starting with mostly raw pork skin and some meat, a seasoning mixture of yeast, vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, salt, sugar & pepper are added. The raw meat mixture is then wrapped (usually in banana leaves or plastic) into small squares are left to pickle and ferment for about 3-7 days. The product is a small, dense square of sour, pickled pork meat with a garlic punch!
11. 11. Gà Nướng (Grilled Chicken)- Vietnamese marinated and grilled brown meat chicken.
12. 12. Thịt Bò Nướng (Grilled/Bar-B-Que Beef)- Vietnamese marinated style beef. Grilled meat options are usually pork, but more places are offering beef as an filling.
13. 13. Cá Mòi (Sardines)- Usually, the sardine selections (bones included, but cooked) are pulled straight from the can. Nothing really homemade. Once favored more by Vietnamese, sardine banh mi are now becoming more popular by non-Vietnamese because of the moist and flavorful fish texture.
14. 14. Paté – Ranging from chicken to duck liver ingredients, pates can normally be a part of every sandwich as a spread, but some menu’s offer pate in larger quantities, making it the main savory filling ingredient.
15. 15. Trưng Chien (Fried Egg)- Eggs are usually prepared as a scramble, well done sunny side up (but cooked on both sides), omelet style or a little bit of all three.
16. 16. Chay (Vegetarian)- Meatless choices can be offered in a combination of the ways:
    1. Tofu Chunks – Chunks of tofu are deep fried, then sauteed with a vegetarian, Vietnamese marinade (Soy Sauce, Veggie Oyster or Veggie Mushroom Sauces).
    2. Shredded Tofu (Bì Chay) – Like the Bì (Pork skin), this vegetarian version is made with thin slices of dry tofu, then mixed with stir fried sliced jicama, carrots and/or glass vermicelli noodles. This type of filling usually is VERY dry, so ask for some extra soy for added moisture and flavor.
    3. Veggie “Ham”- These thinly sliced salmon colored (or cream) pieces of processed bean curd mimic the meat version quite well, but the flavors will dictate the differences. Just try it, you just might like it.
    4. Wheat gluten- Gluten pieces are prepared in the same way that tofu usually is

We ordered the barbecued pork (the red and sweet style of barbecue). The sandwich was prepared fast and came rolled up. The meat was sweet tasting and sparse and the inside of the sandwich roll was covered in what looked like a yellow oil. The meat was quite sweet, flavorful, and extremely moist. It was also very hot and soft, with a thick layer of fat attached to all the pieces. The vegetables were fresh and helped offset the richness of the meat.

We also ordered bubble tea and a few of the meat filled pastries. Bubble tea is a sweet drink made from either a millk or fruit juice base available in many flavors. The bubbles or “boba” in the tea are marble-sized dark brown tapioca balls designed to be consumed through a large straw with the tea. These balls are chewy and slightly sweet. We looked up the history of bubble tea and found that it is actually a fairly recent invention and was not invented in Vietnam. According to Wikipedia, bubble tea was invented during the 1980s in Taiwan and spread throughout Asia. We tried taro and watermelon. Both were frozen and similar to bubble tea frappuccinos. The watermelon tasted exactly like the inside of  a watermelon and the taro tasted richer and much milkier.

We also tried some of the other meat pastries sold at Song Que. These included a very round and smooth bun filled with the same sweet and red barbecued meat as the sandwich. Another was a steamed bun, banh bao, similar to Chinese steamed buns, which was filled with sausage and quail eggs. Wikipedia describes banh bao:

Bánh bao (literally “covering cake”) is a ball-shaped dumpling with pork or chicken meat, onions, eggs,mushrooms and vegetables inside, in Vietnamese cuisine. The steamed bun often has ground pork or chicken, Chinese sausage, and a portion of a hard-boiled egg inside. This delicacy originated with the baozifrom China but was adapted by the Vietnamese and is also available in most other countries with Vietnamese populations. Bánh bao are generally smaller than baozi, and are filled with savory fillings, the most popular of which is seasoned ground pork. As in China, pork is the most popular kind of meat inVietnam.

Bánh bao is an old fashion Cantonese dim sum call Tai Pao 大包(meaning big bun) brought to Vietnam by Cantonese Immigrants, it was invented during the hardship days of old China to feed the ordinary people.

Cafe Society notes that some bakeries will use halved chicken eggs instead of quail eggs. We found the bun bland after the flavorful banh mi.

Song Que also had a huge amount of Vietnamese desserts. Foodofvietnam.com writes:

Fresh fruits are the most popular desserts in Viet Nam, but “Chè” is the most traditional Vietnamese dessert. It’s a sweet pudding usually made from beans, bananas, coconut milk, pearl tapioca, sweet yam or yucca root vermicelli and sugar. There are shops which sell nothing but “Chè”. “Chè” is also a popular snack for the Vietnamese. In high-priced restaurants you can also find European cakes and ice cream.

Song Que serves both chè, cakes, and ice cream. Bright green desserts and other foodstuffs line the tables and they also have a dessert bar with both hot and cold desserts. These feature colorful porridges, jellies, etc. The ice creams were exotic flavors like Thai iced tea and ginger. We weren’t able to try any, but were curious about these colorful desserts. Monster Munching has descriptions of their experience eating Vietnamese desserts.

TOTAL: $8.25 (for one banh mi, one steamed bun, and one bubble tea)

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