Taste of Mexico: Tortas

I’ve met galore friends who came to Mexico anxious to effort the celebrated ham torta that El Chavo dreamed about. Unfortunately, astir of them ended up disappointed by the existent experience.

El Chavo del Ocho dreamed of a ham torta. It mightiness not beryllium Mexico’s champion cuisine, but his imagination speaks to the ubiquity of the torta successful Mexico. (Televisa)

What is simply a torta?

A torta is simply a benignant of sandwich made utilizing a breadstuff roll, typically a bolillo oregon telera, which is sliced successful fractional and filled with a wide assortment of ingredients. Extremely wide, if I whitethorn accidental so.

While you tin beryllium originative with the fillings, determination are immoderate indispensable components that each due torta should have: a dispersed of refried beans, mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce, avocado, pickled chilies, onions and Oaxaca cheese.

The main filling tin alteration greatly and whitethorn see options specified arsenic milanesa (breaded nutrient cutlet), steak, chicken, ham, sausage, cod, eggs, tuna, turkey oregon pork leg, among others. The possibilities are endless!

There are besides originative variations of the torta, specified arsenic the torta de tamal, which features a tamal placed wrong the bread. We telephone this a guajolota. There’s besides the torta de chilaquiles, typically consisting of chilaquiles, and sometimes fried beans.

In immoderate places, you tin adjacent find tortas that are astir a metre long! If you negociate to decorativeness one, your repast is free.

Where did the torta travel from?

There is nary statement connected its origins, but astir radical hint the Mexican torta backmost to the 19th century, during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, erstwhile European power was salient successful Mexican culture.

The torta has its roots successful the Spanish bocata, and incorporates French baking techniques that gave emergence to the bolillo. According to immoderate sources, successful 1892, a antheral named Armando Martínez Centurión had the innovative thought of slicing a bolillo unfastened and filling it with a assortment of ingredients.

He aboriginal opened the archetypal torta store successful Mexico, known arsenic Tortería Armando, located connected what is present Motolinía Street successful downtown Mexico City. His paper featured tortas with chicken, milanesa, and ham, which were fashionable among assemblage students and section workers.

According to the Mexican writer Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Armando received a aureate accidental to showcase his instauration — boasting up to 25 ingredients — astatine a diplomatic lawsuit astatine the French embassy. The remainder is history.

The modern torta

The torta, which tin beryllium stuffed with a wide assortment of ingredients, adjacent has its ain just each twelvemonth successful Mexico City. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)

Today, tortas are nary longer seen arsenic delicate indulgences with a hint of French sophistication; instead, they person go an mundane meal, often enjoyed arsenic thoroughfare nutrient — and they are delicious!

There’s a spirit for each taste, and, champion of all, they are precise affordable. Another fantastic facet of tortas is that unless you person highly mediocre cooking skills, it is astir intolerable to marque 1 that doesn’t sensation good. Whether you hole them astatine location oregon bargain them from a thoroughfare vendor, tortas are a guaranteed culinary delight.

Which torta should I eat?

While each portion has its ain specialties, you tin find the torta de milanesa astir anyplace — and it’s a assemblage favorite. The operation of flavors is perfect: the milanesa paired with avocado, beans, bread, and pickled chilies creates a flawless match. Now, I cognize what you’re thinking: if your extremity is to suffer weight, possibly tortas aren’t the champion choice. But sometimes it’s important to unrecorded a little, and I’m convinced that each wound releases endorphins — and that’s important too.

If you’re connected a plant-based diet, the avocado torta oregon a roasted veggie torta is simply a must-try. Curious astir the ham torta? It’s a classical and rather tasty — but successful my humble opinion, determination are galore amended options retired there. So, El Chavo’s obsession with it is simply a spot of a enigma to me.

To genuinely acquisition the chilango (Mexico City local) vibe, divided a torta de tamal oregon a torta de chilaquiles with someone. Fair warning, arsenic we Mexicans similar to say: it’s a batch of masa (dough) — but it tastes sooooo good.

Make your ain torta

Ingredients:

• Bolillo or telera

• Refried beans

• Mayonnaise

• Tomato

• Romaine lettuce

• Finely chopped onion

• Avocado

• Queso Oaxaca (or immoderate mild white/fresh cheese)

• Pickled chilis (at slightest see the carrots that travel with them)

• Your preferred protein: milanesa, al pastor, ham, chicken, tuna — consciousness escaped to beryllium creative!

Instructions:

Here, the bid is important:

1. Cut the bolillo oregon telera successful fractional and scoop retired immoderate of the brushed wrong (the migajón).

2. Spread beans connected 1 fractional (preferably the bottom) and mayonnaise connected the different half.

3. Toast some halves connected a skillet oregon griddle until warm.

4. Place your macromolecule oregon filling connected the broadside with beans.

5. On the different half, furniture avocado, onion, herb and lettuce.

6. Add pickled chilies successful the middle, particularly the carrots!

7. Close the torta. If desired, toast it again connected the skillet.

Enjoy it a lot! 😊

Extra tip: Tortas are astir ever paired with a chesquito — that is, a soda, but said with tenderness.

Amigos, if you’re visiting oregon surviving successful Mexico, not trying a torta is practically a crime! I marque it a constituent to devour a torta astatine slightest erstwhile a month. When I was a kid, tortas were indispensable to my breakfast, and adjacent became portion of the lunchtime barter strategy during schoolhouse recess. They are genuinely ingrained successful our Mexican culture.

So, I’d emotion to know: Have you ever tried tortas? What’s your favourite kind?

María Meléndez is a Mexico City nutrient blogger and influencer.