Recipe: Cuban Medianoche Sandwiches

It’s a very particular kind of morning we’re talking about when we say this is the Cuban sandwich you want for breakfast — specifically the kind that starts closer to noon than it does to nine, and one where the night before might’ve included lots of dancing. That, or those mornings when you wake up ravenous and ready for something truly hearty to eat.

The Cuban medianoche is a close sibling to the more famous cubano. With an identical filling — Swiss cheese, pork, ham, pickles, and sharp yellow mustard — the one distinguishing element here is the bread. Often called pan medianoche or pan sauve, this bread is smaller, richer, eggier, and usually sweeter than the crusty, baguette-like bread used for cubanos. I think it makes for an all-around tastier sandwich, but then I really don’t care for bread that scratches up the roof of your mouth with every bite.

With its origins in Havana and a legacy solidified by the numerous shops, stores, and restaurants that offer it day, noon, and night throughout Cuban communities in the States, the medianoche is really the sandwich to sink your teeth into when you want to do breakfast Cuban-style.

A word to the wise — this isn’t exactly a sandwich you can eat the moment the craving hits you since the recipe does include roasting a pork loin. So plan ahead on behalf of your future self for this sandwich — it will only run you an hour or so. The good news, however, is that roasting the pork loin is the most time-intensive part, rewarding you and five other hungry guests with delicious sandwiches once it’s made.

Like the cubano, this sandwich is brushed with butter and griddled to finish. A panini press makes that pretty easy, but if you’re without one, a foiled-covered brick and a cast iron pan does the job just as well.