Cuban sandwich? Elena Ruz?

[Bob Mervine]

Girlfriend says this is an authentic Cuban sandwich.

I respectfully disagree.

Have found some anecdotal evidence on this board and others of a 1930's speciality sandwich made for a Havana socialite that might have some thin thread of Cuban heritage.

Anyone want to venture an opinion? Please?

Bob

[2top]

A quick google search shows:

The Elena Ruz, also sometimes known as a Cuban Turkey Sandwich (not to be confused with the equally tasty Cuban Sandwich),

This sandwich was named after a patron of a once popular restaurant in Habana called El Carmelo, located in the area of Vedado at Twenty-third and G Streets. People went to this gourmet café for cafés [coffees] and bocaditos [sandwiches].Elena Ruz was likely an American whose last name was Rush, which Cubans would have pronounced as Ruz. She was a frequent customer of El Carmelo between the years 1945 and 1948. She always requested this bocadito, an unusual combination of cream cheese, turkey, and strawberry preserves, which was not on the menu. The staff began calling the sandwich the Elena Ruz.

You can also toast the bread if you like.

2 slices white bread, crust removed 1 tablespoon strawberry preserves

1 tablespoon cream cheese 4 ounces cooked turkey

On 1 slice of bread, spread the cream cheese, and on the other slice, spread the preserves. Add the turkey and close to make a sandwich. 1 serving

[Bob Mervine]

Gracias.

Nicely done.

Bob

[advisor_Girl]

Bob>

Used to be my go-to sammie at Latin American Cafe on Coral Way VERY late night... post-cocktails-pre-hangover. I think they still make them at the Bayside Marketplace location on Biscayne.

We make them at home now but "gringo-ize" them sometimes when we sub the strawberry jam with canned cranberry sauce (the one that comes out as a log you slice into perfect rings or the "whole berry" lumpy kind from Ocean Spray...) and Philly Cream Cheese. So good - such a guilty pleasure!

Which will kill me first - my fondness for Elena Ruz or the El Rey Chivitos on 71st Street, MB?

I'll let you know...

AG

[flavrmeistr]

Bob,

There are several kinds of Cuban sandwiches besides the classic ham/roast pork/Jarlsberg/chicharrones/pickle/mustard. One variation is called a "media noche" (midnight), which is basically the same except they use a sweet bread instead of traditional pan Cubano. There is also the pan con bistec, a marinated steak sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo and potato sticks all pressed down and toasted on the plancha, that magnificent device which elevates Cuban sandwiches to the very pinnacle of sandwichdom, right up there with the bahn mi, the true Italian sub and the oyster po' boy.

[foodiesleuth]

I beg to differ with you. Elena Ruz was a young Cuban socialite and related to Fidel & Raul Castro on their mother's side (Ruz) - Contrary to your opinion, the name is not Ruth pronounced Ruz - it is RUZ and she is still alive living now in Miami.

[2top]

It was not my opinion.....as stated, it was a google search. God bless, Elena RUZ.

[marco_from_nyc]

Actually, I beg to differ with all of you. Robert Creamer, author the definitive Babe Ruth biography, explained in a 1960's interview for the Saturday Evening Post how the Babe went to Cuba to play baseball in the off-season at least twice with his first wife, Helen. Helen, who was of frail health and who rarely went out, asked the head waiter at the Hotel Nacional in Havana, where they were staying, to prepare her sandwich that her grandmother used to make: turkey slices with cream cheese and strawberry jam on toasted white bread. The head waiter obliged the babseball star's wife, and thus the sandwich was named Elena (or Helen) Rus (pronounced "Roos", a literal spelling of how non-English speaking Cubans pronounced "Ruth"). This story was confirmed by that head waiter, whose name was Valsar, and who went to exile in Miami after 1960, and died shortly thereafter.

If there was an Elena Ruz debutante in the 1930's, the sandwich already exited at that time, and is most certainly not named after a relative of Fidel Castro's mother, whose last name is Ruz, but who entire family migrated to Cuba from Jaffa, Israel when she was a little girl.

[Covert Ops]

Oh MAN that sounds good! :-D

Is this served in typical Cuban restaurants, or is this more a make at home thing?

[OffTheBroiler]

You can certainly make it at home but the roast pork, known as Lechon (or Pernil in Puerto Rican parlance) is the most essential ingredient and requires the most time to make -- it requires that the pork is marinated and then slow cooked, so generally it is made from BBQ pork leftovers at home whereas in a sandwich shop, the Lechon is roasted and sliced specifically for sandwiches. I made a Cuban Sandwich for lunch today using leftover pork shoulder from Momofuku Ssam bar. I documented the procedure on my web site if anyone is interested.

[Covert Ops]

Thanks, OTB, but I was asking if the Elena Ruz was served in restaurants. . .I'm not that big of a pork fan, but turkey w/cream cheese and jelly sounds intriguing...

[flavrmeistr]

In Miami, you'll see it on the menu of almost any Cuban restaurant, especially the little breakfast/lunch places (cafeterias), along with the pan con bistec, media noche, sandwiche Cubano, sandwiche desayuno (breakfast sandwich, usually ham/egg/potato/cheese), etc. Many places have a stand-out sandwich, but most will try and accommodate a special request. The best sandwich places also bake their own bread, like the Capri Restaurant on Southern Blvd. in West Palm. Since I'm not in South Florida at the moment, I'm experiencing a powerful mixture of hunger and nostalgia every time I look at this thread.

[eimac]

I remember seeing it on the menus of most sandwich places when I lived in Miami - and when people ordered party platters of bocaditos ( little sandwiches) there were usually some there also. I was alway a big cream cheese and jelly fan as a kid, so the addition of turkey never seemed strange.Years ago the Miami Herald had an article about the girl who it was named for. She said she still ate
them.

[foodiesleuth]

Yes, you can find it on menus in restaurants in Miami.

[OffTheBroiler]

The most famous Cuban sandwich shop in Miami, by the way, is the Latin American Cafeteria.on Southwest 72nd street. While it is not the oldest, it makes what many Cubans consider to be the best in the entire city, with the most amount of meat and the best ingredients. I've attached a photo of it here, but it's also chronicled on my blog. Consider it the Katz Pastrami Sandwich of Cubanos, it could be shared by two people.

[flavrmeistr]

There's another famous place in Hialeah right around the corner from the main entrance to the old horse track. It's in the shadow of the metro rail. I forget the name, but the sandwiches are stupendous, at least two feet long and enough to stuff four people. There are two shops at the southwest corner of NW27th Ave. and 441 that serve an awesome pan con bistec, not especially large, but delicious for about 4.00.

[solideo]

Molina's in Hialeah is legendary for their pan con bistec. The best Elena Ruz in the whole city is at Chico's in Hialeah. It's a Hialeah staple, as it's open 24 hours and has only been closed for two major hurricanes in all of its existence.

[eimac]

Pan con bistek at Latin American is great - they add a slice of grilled ham, no mayo that I could detect.
However, the steak sandwich at Lila's was alway my favorite - it was just a piece of palomilla steak, and their awesome fries on pressed cuban bread.

[OffTheBroiler]

I havent had the Pan Con Bistek there, or at Lila's, but I had the one at El Rey De Las Fritas. Oh man. (see attached).

I would KILL for a Rey De Las Fritas anywhere in the NY/NJ metro area.

[flavrmeistr]

I make them at home with leftover grilled porkloin (marinated and basted in mojo, lime and papaya), smoked ham, sopressata, Jarlsberg cheese, garlic pickle slices an Pommerey mustard on a baguette. I wrap it in foil and mash it between two large griddles, flipping it over every few minutes. I like mine nice and toasty.

[foodiesleuth]

Yes, your girlfriend is correct. It did originate in Cuba. The restaurant was El Carmelo and as far as the reply you received below....I beg to disagree with the poster signed 2top on May 31. - Elena Ruz was a young Cuban socialite and related to Fidel & Raul Castro on their mother's side (Ruz) - Contrary to his opinion, the name is not Ruth or Rush pronounced Ruz - it is RUZ and she is still alive living now in Miami.

[foodiesleuth]

Yes, your girlfriend is correct. It did originate in Cuba. The restaurant was El Carmelo and as far as the reply you received below....I beg to disagree with the poster signed 2top on May 31. - Elena Ruz was a young Cuban socialite and related to Fidel & Raul Castro on their mother's side (Ruz) - Contrary to his opinion, the name is not Ruth or Rush pronounced Ruz - it is RUZ and she is still alive living now in Miami.

[Bob Mervine]

For the record, my girlfriend has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be corrrect and I, the knowledgeable one, has been proven an idiot.
She is right and I am wrong.

I beg her forebearance in future matters of food.

Thanks to the board for your kind and informed support.

Bob

[Sally E]

As Bob's girlfriend, I'd like to say, "Ha, ha, ha, ha. I'm right, you're wrong" And if anyone hasn't tried an Elena Ruz, you really should. They are fabulous!

[andy huse]

Here in Tampa never heard of such a thing--- It sure sounds gringo, so the Helen Ruth story sounds right. Sounds like tea parlor food to me, just cut the crust off the sandwich.

[TampaPete]

White bread, turkey and jam, does sound a bit gringo to me also.
I wonder how many restaurants in the 30's in Havana would have turkey on the menu or on hand in a regular basis.

I wonder if Cuban's, even socialites, would go for this.
We are not big on savory and sweet things at the same time (stuck together on the same dish), not counting such things as bistek and platanos maduros.

Bread and cream chesse, OK
Bread and jam, OK
Bread chesse and jam, OK
Bread, chesse, jam and turkey ?

Just wondering.

[gfr1111]

Turkey, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, and usually some kind of fruit preserve, either on the sandwich or served alongside it for dipping. I'm sure many readers have noticed how much this resembles a Monte Cristo sandwich. It's almost as if some Yankee had come along, recognized a winner when he saw it, took the recipe home to the U.S., and deep-fried it (because everything tastes better fried).

[Frodnesor]

I suspect the Monte Cristo has its origins with the Croque Monsieur rather than the Elena Ruz.

[gfr1111]

Yeah, you're probably right, Frodnesor, but I like my fantasy better--more exotic!

[TampaPete]

I like this theory

The Monte Cristo, now there is a Cuban Sandwich for you.
If it don't move we fry it

[Frodnesor]

Think you could fry a Cuban Sandwich after you press it? - a Cubana Frita.

[andy huse]

don't forget the battered and fried picadillo sandwich. I had one in keys diner. It wasn't great, but i had to try it.

[homereker]

As Bob's other girlfriend, I've tried the elena ruz and it is almost as good as Bob. He is the BEST!