For Reggie, who inquired about a too-salty Cuban bread:
Cuban bread, in its true form contains only yeast, water, salt, sugar, and
flour. It is closely related to French bread.
I suspect that your newspaper made a misprint in the amount of salt for the
Cuban bread recipe. Also, the proportions are really a 1 1/2 pound loaf, not a
1 pound loaf. No, Cuban bread should not be overly salty.
A good rule of thumb for salt is aboout 1/2 teaspoon salt per cup of flour in
most yeast breads for good flavor. (This comes close to a recent post of 2%
salt per Joe Ortiz.)
There is a recipe for hand-made Cuban bread, per James Bead, in the New York
Times Cookbook, as well as in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads.
Happy Baking!
Carolyn