The Elena Ruz sandwich story
Elena Ruz Valdez-Fauli was a young Havana socialite from a very prominent family in the late 1920's who used to frequent the El Carmelo Restaurant with her school friends. Elena would request a sandwich made especialy for her with lightly toasted medianoche bread, spread generously with cream cheese and strawberry jam, then filled with roasted turkey slices.
She would have to explain her combination each time she ordered it, so after a while she requested the sandwich be put on the menu so she wouldn't have to explain each time. The management complied and eventually also placed a neon sign at the window announcing the 'Elena Ruz Sandwich' for 25 cents. That was quite expensive at the time considering that a regular Medianoche Sandwich or even the larger Cuban Sandwich were offered for 5 and 10 cents respectively.
Many years later, during an interview with the Miami Herald she explained " I loved it, but my mother was horrified. She thought it was disgraceful to have my name in lights as if I were advertising myself."
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