Columbia Restaurant ★ 4.5
Columbia in Ybor City has plated 1905 Salad, paella and Spanish-Cuban classics since 1905, Florida's oldest restaurant under five Gonzmart family generations.
History
Boliche is the Cuban Sunday roast that Tampa inherited from Cuban immigrants in the 1890s. The original recipe uses eye-of-round or top round, butterflied and rolled around a stuffing of chorizo, garlic, olives and capers. Braised slow with red wine, tomato and sour orange, the dish is a Sunday dinner staple at the Columbia Restaurant and La Teresita. The Spanish version is similar but Tampa's adds the Cuban sour orange and the mojo accent.
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1.5kg eye-of-round beef, butterflied
- 200g Spanish chorizo, diced small
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 100g pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Olive oil for searing
- 2 onions, sliced
- 400g tomato sauce
- 500ml red wine
- Juice of 2 sour oranges (or 1 lime + 1 orange)
- 2 bay leaves
Method
- Mix chorizo, garlic, olives, capers, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread evenly over the butterflied beef. Roll tightly and tie with butcher's twine in 4 places.
- Sear the rolled beef in olive oil on all sides until well browned, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a Dutch oven. Add onions, tomato sauce, red wine, sour orange juice and bay leaves. The liquid should reach two-thirds up the beef.
- Cover and braise at 150C for 3 hours, turning every hour, until a fork slides into the meat easily.
- Rest 20 minutes. Remove twine. Slice into 1.5cm rounds, showing the chorizo spiral. Spoon braising liquid over the top.
- Serve with yellow rice, black beans and yuca.
Tip from the editors. If you can't find sour orange, use a 50-50 mix of lime juice and regular orange juice with a splash of grapefruit. Don't skip the mojo acidity.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat boliche (cuban stuffed pot roast)
Boliche (Cuban stuffed pot roast) in Tampa
La Teresita ★ 4.5
La Teresita on Columbus Drive has run a Cuban counter and dining room in West Tampa since 1972, owned by the Capdevila family across two generations.
Order: Palomilla steak with yellow rice and black beans.
Tip: The counter side runs 6am to midnight Friday and Saturday; the dining room takes reservations next door.
Brocato's Sandwich Shop ★ 4.6
Brocato's on East Columbus Drive in Tampa has built Cuban sandwiches, deviled crabs and stuffed potatoes since 1948 from a neighborhood storefront.
Order: The Cuban sandwich with a deviled crab on the side.
Tip: Cash and card both work; the party finger sandwiches (mini Cubans and mini deviled crabs) are the catering pick.
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