In the heart of Tampa's Cuban community, Ybor City, La Segunda Central Bakery has been making Cuban bread for more than 100 years.
"There's a lot of big companies making Cuban bread by machine," said Anthony More, the bakery's owner. "It's not the same here."
More says the bakery struggles to find people who know how to make Cuban bread the traditional way.
"There's no place in the world that teaches people how to make Cuban bread," he said. "None. So the only thing we can do is teach them ourselves."
La Segunda is training bakers in an intensive four-week course to carry on the Cuban custom. For Jose Rodriguez and the other bakers in training, they start with the tedious task of splitting Palmetto leaves.
"This is actually a different experience, working with my hands," Rodriguez said. "I actually like it."
The Palmetto leaves are placed on top of each loaf, allowing the loaves to slightly open to bake the bread evenly. This is the bakery's signature mark.
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Except for a few mixers, La Segunda uses few machines. Everything is done by hand - and the owners plan to keep it that way.
"It's been in our family for 103 years now, and we don't want to change it," said More.
It's up to the bakery to find and train people who can make Cuban bread. But they say not all would-be bakers can.
"I've been here for a while. Within 30 days, you will know who's going to be a baker and who's not," said baker Luiz Valdez.
But those who do take part in baking some 18,000 loaves every day, and carry on an important and tasty tradition.
