Cuban Bread

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: James Beard's Cuban Bread
Categories: Bread, Tried, Favorite, Easy, Posted-mm
Yield: 2 loaves

1 1/2 pk Active dry yeast
1 T Granulated sugar
2 c Warm water (100-115 deg.)
1 T Salt
5 c All-purpose or hard wheat
-flour plus 1 cup if necess.
3 T Yellow cornmeal
1 T Egg white,mixed with 1Tbl.
-cold water

Source: Beard on Bread

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow
to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a
cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured
board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour
as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with
butter.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk..1 1/2-2 hrs.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into two
long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been
sprinkled with the cornmeal, but NOT buttered. Slash the tops of the
loaves diagonally in two or three places with a single edge razor blade
or sharp knife, brush the loaves with the egg white wash. Place in a
COLD oven, set the temperature at 400 degrees, and bake 35 minutes, or
until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.

I've never made Cuban bread (the bakeries in Miami always had it fresh) so I can't really say how close this is to the real thing. It sounds good, but I'm not sure about the egg white wash. When I think of egg wash on bread, I think of a shiny yellow crust. Of course, this is only the whites, so I don't know what that does. All I know is that the crust on Cuban bread is slightly crispy, but soft. It is not shiny at all.

I've heard Cuban bread referred to as "pan de agua", which means "water bread". I think that is because they put something in the oven to keep the crust soft, like a pan of water.

Also, I've only seen the bread with a slit lengthwise down the top, not three diagonal slashes. I guess that's just aesthetics.
--Mick

Mick,
The egg wash just puts a clear sheen on the loaves. Nearest Cuban bakery to me is about 2 hours south. This works in a pinch. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
From the sounds of it, they probably use brick ovens, right along with the steam inside.
This bread bakes out to be quite similar to a large French baguette, with the crust, like you say a bit crunchy, and moist on the inside. Perfect for left over pork loin sandwiches, warmed and flattened in a cast iron skillet. Next time, I will incorporate your idea and sprinkle some mojo right on the pork, before heating the sandwich up.

Jim

Whether the Cuban bread is authentic or not doesn't really matter. Pork tastes good on anything! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

One of these days I'll try to make some, though, and I'll let you know how it turns out. For now, I know my grandmother's coming up next week from Miami, and she always brings about a dozen loaves with her.

--Mick