Ingredients
Bread
- 4telera or bolillo rolls
Spread
- 200 grefried black or pinto beans
- 2avocados, sliced
- 4 tbspcrema or mayonnaise
Filling
- 500 gof one filling: milanesa, carnitas, ham, chorizo with egg, or breaded chicken
To layer
- 200 gquesillo or panela cheese
- 2tomatoes, sliced
- 1onion, sliced
- lettuce, shredded
- pickled jalapeños, en escabeche
To serve
- salsa on the side
- a cold drink
Directions
- Warm the roll on a griddle, cut side down, with a little butter or on the plancha. It crisps the surface so the beans and juices do not soak straight into the crumb, and it warms the bread through.
- Press it down while it toasts. Spread refried beans thickly on the bottom half. It sits between the wet fillings and the bread and it is why a torta holds together.
- Make sure they are thick and spreadable rather than loose. Spread crema or mayonnaise on the top half.
- Cook and slice whichever filling you are using and pile it on the beans while hot. Add cheese while the filling is still hot so it softens. Add avocado, tomato, onion and lettuce.
- Put the wet fresh ingredients above the meat rather than against the bread, which keeps the roll from going soggy.
- Add jalapeños en escabeche, the pickled ones with carrot and onion, generously. Press it properly, which compacts everything and makes it possible to eat. Serve it as it is, or press it on a hot plancha with a weight for 3 or 4 minutes.
- Cut it in half diagonally and serve it immediately, with salsa on the side. Torta ahogada from Guadalajara is a carnitas torta in a birote roll, drowned in a thin chilli sauce and eaten with a fork or from a bag.
Technique
- Telera and bolillo are the two standard rolls and behave differently.
- Torta ahogada, pambazo and cemita are regional dishes in their own right.
- Hollowing out the roll is standard vendor practice.
Substitutions
- A soft bread roll or small baguette, hollowed out.
- Any cooked meat, cheese or egg as a filling.
Variations
- Torta ahogada, drowned in chilli sauce.
- Cemita poblana, on a sesame roll with papalo.
- Torta de tamal, with a tamal inside.
History
A sandwich made on a specific soft roll called a bolillo or telera, filled with a wide range of possible fillings including meat, cheese, avocado and refried beans, developed across Mexico following the introduction of European-style bread baking during Spanish colonization, since bread itself, and the soft roll format specifically, were not part of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cooking, which relied on corn tortillas rather than wheat bread. Regional versions vary considerably, with the torta ahogada of Guadalajara, drowned in a spicy tomato-based sauce after assembly, representing one particularly distinct and strongly regionally identified variation within the much broader and more loosely defined torta category found across the rest of the country.
Frequently asked questions
What is Torta?
Torta is a street food from Mexico: crusty bolillo sandwich stuffed with meats, beans, avocado. A sandwich made on a specific soft roll called a bolillo or telera, filled with a wide range of possible fillings including meat, cheese, avocado and refried beans, developed across Mexico following the introduction of European-style bread baking during Spanish colonization, since bread itself, and the soft roll format specifically, were not part of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cooking, which relied on corn tortillas rather than wheat bread. Regional versions vary considerably, with the torta ahogada of Guadalajara, drowned in a spicy tomato-based sauce after assembly, representing one particularly distinct and strongly regionally identified variation within the much broader and more loosely defined torta category found across the rest of the country.
How long does Torta take to make?
Torta takes 20 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 tortas. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Torta?
Yes, within limits. A soft bread roll or small baguette, hollowed out. Any cooked meat, cheese or egg as a filling.
What is the most important thing to get right in Torta?
Warm the roll on a griddle, cut side down, with a little butter or on the plancha. It crisps the surface so the beans and juices do not soak straight into the crumb, and it warms the bread through.
