Cuban Bread - History

History

The origins of "real" Cuban bread are debated, with both Miami and Tampa, Florida claiming to be the home of the best. With regards to where it originated, the earliest U.S. bakery to produce Cuban bread was most likely La Joven Francesca bakery, which was established in 1896 by the Sicilian-born Francisco Ferlita, a Cuban-Spanish-Italian immigrant to the in Ybor City community in Tampa. This bakery sold bread for 3 to 5 cents a loaf, mainly to the Ybor City market.

The bakery was destroyed by fire in 1922, leaving only the brick bread oven standing. Francisco rebuilt the bakery even larger than before, adding a second oven, and it became a major supplier of bread for the Tampa/Ybor area. The bakery also became a place to congregate, drink a good cup of Cuban coffee, and catch up on the local news.

In Ybor City, bread used to be delivered every morning like milk. Houses had a sturdy nail driven into the doorframe next to the door. The bread deliveryman would impale the fresh loaf of bread on the nail.

La Joven closed in 1973, but soon found new life when it was renovated and converted into the Ybor City State Museum, becoming the main part of the museum complex. The original ovens where the original Cuban bread was baked are still viewable inside.

La Segunda Bakery is currently the largest producer of Cuban bread in the Tampa area. It was founded by Juan Morè, who migrated to Tampa from Cuba and opened La Primera Bakery in 1915. The bakery (literally "The First" in Spanish) burned down decades ago, and when rebuilt, it was rechristened "La Segunda", literally "The Second".