Chiefs vs. Bucs also means burnt ends vs. Cuban sandwiches

Sunday’s Super Bowl LV promises not one, but several battles for the ages: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes. Years of experience vs. youthful enthusiasm. And Cuban sandwiches vs. burnt ends.

This year’s game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa will make history as the first Super Bowl in which one of the competing teams is playing on their home field. Beyond that there will be the usual colorful fans (but fewer of them this year) and epic commercials (ditto). But anyone who’s ever attended a Super Bowl party knows the day is all about the food.

Sure, you could go the traditional chicken-wing route; more than a billion of them are expected to be consumed Sunday. But why not make it a little more interesting, and certainly more partisan, by pitting against each other the foods that helped put the two cities on the culinary map?

There’s no debate about burnt ends. KC native Calvin Trillin is credited with launching their popularity when he wrote about Arthur Bryant’s restaurant in Playboy magazine in 1972: “The main course at Bryant’s, as far as I’m concerned, is something that is given away free — the burned edges of the brisket. The counterman just pushes them over to the side and anyone who wants them helps himself. I dream of those burned edges. Sometimes, when I’m in some awful, overpriced restaurant … a blank look comes over me: I have just realized that at that very moment, someone in Kansas City is being given those burned edges for free.”

The bad news is that you can’t get them anywhere for free anymore. The good news is that you can find them in a number of Las Vegas restaurants, and they’re perfect for Super Bowl takeout. Pick up some at Rollin Smoke Barbecue, which has three locations in Southern Nevada; John Mull’s Meats & Road Kill Grill at 3730 Thom Blvd. (order by Friday for Sunday pickup); Fox Smokehouse BBQ at 930 Nevada Way in Boulder City; Tucky’s Smokin BBQ at 308 N. Boulder Highway in Henderson; and Smoking Pig BBQ Company, 4379 Las Vegas Blvd. North. (Order ahead; supplies are limited.)

The origin of the Cuban sandwich is a somewhat thornier subject. Tampa loyalists swear it was invented in their fair hometown, while Miami fanatics make the same claim. The major difference appears to be that the Tampa version contains Genoa salami, while the Miami one does not. Both agree it’s served hot, on pressed Cuban bread.

At Cubanidad 1885, 3585 S. Fort Apache Road, owner Dennis Martinez Miranda hails from Cuba — where, both sides agree, the sandwich was not invented. He serves both the 305 Miami Cuban Sandwich, with smoked ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickle and house-made mustard sauce on Cuban bread, and The Ybor Original Tampa Cuban Sandwich, with glazed ham, roasted pork, Genoa salami, Swiss cheese, pickle and house-made mustard sauce on Cuban bread.

Other Cuban restaurants around town seem to side with Tampa. At Cuba Cafe at 2055 E. Tropicana Ave., Havana Grill at 8878 S. Eastern Ave. and Havana Express at 2590 E. Tropicana Ave., the Sandwich Cubano is made with roasted pork, ham, cheese, mustard and pickles. If you’d like to remain neutral, The Goodwich at 900 Las Vegas Blvd. South, serves the Cuban-Esque, which is pork butt, pork belly, “pickle maystard,” Swiss, ham and chicaharron.

Feel free to take sides.

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.