Tortas, the Ultimate Mexican Sandwich

One of the Torta stands outside of the Division del Norte
Metro  Station

As a graduate of Rutgers College in New Jersey, I thought that I knew the ultimate sandwich experience. The "Grease Trucks" on the end of the main stretch that is College Ave. served up their "fat" sandwiches to broke and busy college students all day. For five bucks, I'd get french fries, mozzarella sticks, chicken strips and cheese steak (and well-earned indigestion) conveniently served up on a hoagie roll. Pretty ultimate, right?

The "Cubano"

And then I came to Mexico, where I was expecting the ultimate taco experience (which I did receive and continue to on a regular basis), but I was also pleasantly surprised by the popularity of the torta, the Mexican sandwich. And, I'm sad to say, some of these tortas put the "fat" sandwiches of my college days to shame - they're cheaper, they're thicker and they have a larger selection of meats and cheeses - and they are just as popular as tacos as Mexico's favorite street food. A torta is a toasted bollilo (puffy and football-shaped) o telera (flat and round) roll with mayonnaise, chiles en vinagre, tomatoes, avocado and any combination of meat and cheese.

The Argentino

I am fortunate enough to have a torta truck about 10 feet from my front door that's open about 22 hours a day and crowded for at least half that. When I go (in the downtime), I like to get the Milanesa (breaded steak and melty quesillo cheese) for less than $3 or the Argentino (the Milanesa plus chorizo) for exactly $3, but the most popular by far is their so-called "cubano", which does not meet the traditional cubano standards but includes jamon (ham), huevo (egg), salchicha (sausage), pierna (pork leg?), american cheese (that's obvious), panela (white cheese), milanesa (breaded steak) and queso de puerco (which is the weird parts of the pig - like cheeks and ears - pressed and chilled into a mold and then sliced) - plus, mayo, chiles, tomoatos and avocado, of course, all for $5. That's ultimate.

Sweetened Pumpkin

Fall is in full swing, and that means more holidays (and more days off), colorful falling foliage and just a couple of months when sweet pumpkin treats are quite popular. These are all true on both sides of the Rio Grande. While pumpkin pie can be found in the more gringa-influenced stores (like Costco), the real deal here is dulce de calabaza (sweetened pumpkin, I guess, would be the translation), which is popular from the end of October through Christmas.

This sweet pumpkin treat is very cheap and simple with very few ingredients (and no rolling out dough). Besides the pumpkin, the recipe calls for little more than the typical holiday aromatics of fresh cinnamon and cloves. While the process is time-consuming, you can spend most of the time watching football (or futbol) on the couch. A cinnamon-spiced house, football games and pumpkins finding their 15 minutes of fame - now, isn't that what the autumn holidays are all about?

Ingredients

1 kg. Castillian pumpkin (although I think other pumpkins may work as well; this is what we have here)

2 fresh cinnamon sticks

3 cloves

2 cones of piloncillo (or 2 discs of panela....or 2 cups of brown sugar, if you're in a pinch)

water

Directions

1 - Cut the pumpkin into 2 inch pieces, and put them into a pot - everything goes in, including seeds and fibers.

2 - Break the piloncillo into 2 inch pieces, and put them into a pot.

3 - Add the cinnamon and cloves to the pot.

4 - Add just enough water to cover it all (the actual amount will depend on your pot).

5 - Allow the mixture to simmer over low heat for at least an hour, until the pumpkin becomes soft and the water and piloncillo become a thick syrup.

6 - Enjoy! (For a unique serving a la Jonatan, sprinkle some powdered milk on top.) And, of course, also munch on the candied pumpkin seeds!

(PS - You can do something similar with papaya and regular sugar and have a very popular Venezuelan Christmas treat.)

Man Vs. Food - Sopes

Living in Mexico has really cut into my TV traditions (which is probably a good thing), and while I can still enjoy Seinfeld because it's only subtitled in Spanish, Simpsons and Futurama only appear dubbed in Spanish...and you lose a lot of jokes when you lose the original language. As such, I have turned to Fox Life (who just subs most of its shows) and have rediscovered the wonderful Man Vs. Food to fill up my TV time. This is the only explanation to why I've been wanting to make all of my food much bigger recently.


Man Vs. Food sees a lot of ridiculous-sized Mexican food, but it always seems to be burritos. They've been done, so I've decided on a Man Vs. Sope challenge. Jonatan and I could only eat 1 giant sope each, but we're not professional eaters. When we open our hypothetical Mexican food truck, the sope challenge will be 5 giant sopes and weigh more than 5 pounds (and the salsa is pretty hot, too, to add to the challenge).


To make your own giant sope challenge, you will need:
1.25 kg of masa (250 g each sope)
2 1/2 cups (500g) of salsa (1/2 cup each one)
125g of raw onion, chopped
125g of queso fresco, crumbled
375g of shredded cabbage

I think that the next over-sized Mexican food challenge will be a Oaxacan tamale, based on a giant plantain leaf that I saw on a tree outside of my suegra's house...I have too much free time.

Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos (November 2) is celebrated by going to a cemetery to share a meal with a deceased loved one. However, in case hanging out in the cemetery is not your thing or you don't have a loved one buried in Mexico, there are other  things going on in Mexico City and other places to go (although, I would like to make my position clear that these, while enjoyable, do not quite make up for the lack of Halloween down here). 


As with any big holiday, the place to be in Mexico City is the zocalo (the town square). During the week of Dia de los Muertos, you can find pan de muerto bread baking demonstrations, lots of ofrendas and this bizarre tree statue.

The zocalo may not be for everyone; it's usually very crowded and you may be more about food than ofrendas. For such people, I recommend Coyoacan's much smaller Pan de Muerto and Chocolate festival, where you can find some music, some ofrendas and lots of Mexican hot chocolate, pan de muerto and other culinary specialties.

Or, you can be a total loner (no judgement here), head out to any supermarket or bakery, pick up your own mini pan de muerto (for about 75 cents) and enjoy the soft, sugary orange bread in the comfort of your own home.

The National Mole Festival

 This past Friday, we had quite an experience as we decided to make our way to the 35th Feria Nacional del Mole in San Pedro Atocpan in the southern, much less inhabited part of Mexico City (we refer to it now as our authentic pueblo experience).  A subway ride to the last stop, a light rail trip to the last stop, an hour wandering to find the bus and a 30-minute crowded bus ride later, we arrived at the Feria....the wrong one, the so-called New Feria del Mole, at which we were the only, fairly disappointed patrons. Luckily, we asked, and the real one was right across the street, maybe 50 meters down the road (and with its giant ferris wheel, I don't know how we didn't see it). After we checked out the real festival, we hopped back on the bus for the long journey home. Except all of the roads back to Xochimilco bus station were inexplicably closed, and everyone got out of their buses to walk home on the highway weaving their way through the cars (think Independence Day/Cloverfield style mass exodus); of course, we joined them.

Authentic pueblo experience aside, the Mole Festival was incredible and exceeded everyone of my expectations once I got there. Of course, it had all the festival standards, like handicrafts, rides, games and a stage for traditional folk dancing, but also, as the name suggests, tons of mole! One side of the main festival boulevard was lined with stalls selling powders and pastes of the area's traditional almond mole, as well as other moles (like apple and pecan), pipians and even homemade peanut butter; the other side was filled with restaurants where all of these mole sauces and other traditional dishes were prepared. By the end of the boulevard, I  had collected about 12 mini spoons that had once held delicious samples of various moles, PB, honey, sherbet and jams - all fresh and locally produced. Then, it was time to circle back and pick a place to eat. The culinary experiences (and taste-tests) were definitely worth the journey.

If you ever find yourself in Mexico City during the month of October, I highly recommend sucking up the journey and visiting this incredible fair, so here is some information (after the pic of the l'il horse) that might help you out, especially if you don't speak Spanish...

Feria Facts

www.ferianacionaldelmole.com.mx

 When: Every October, nearly everyday (From what I can tell, it starts on the first weekend and ends on the Sunday of the fourth weekend.)

Where: San Pedro Atocpan, Milpa Alta

            1) Rent a car or take a taxi and follow 

                 the directions on the website (it's 

                 only one highway, and the fair is 

                 located on the highway).

            or

            2) Take the blue subway line to 

                 Tasquena and transfer to the light 

                 rail. Stay on the light rail to the end,   

                 Xochimilco. Walk about 5 blocks 

                 from the train station to the town's 

                 center (walk in the direction of the 

                 big church). Find bus 81, and take it 

                 until you see a small misleading fair 

                 on the left and a giant, obvious fair 

                 further down on the right.

Cost: There is a very small admission fee of 5 pesos (40 cents) per person.

Chiles in Vinegar

When we lived in Queens, Jonatan would always have a can of pickled jalapeños at the ready to put on practically anything that I made, from Mexican food (obviously) to my homemade lasagna and pierogies. I used to find it insulting, but then I just accepted that he's Mexican.

Chiles en vinagre are generally jalapeños (or very occasionally chiles gueros) pickled in vinegar with carrots and onions. Vinegar, as always, is used here as a preservative, but Mexicans also seem to really enjoy the added flavor. The most common uses for chiles en vinagre are tortas, sandwiches and in patas en escabeche (pickled pig's feet, yum) - not with lasagna.

Chiles en vinagre are usually just bought canned in the supermarket (Herdez, La Costeña and La Morena are the most popular brands), but stuck with a kilo of jalapeños on the verge of going bad, we decided to try making them on our own (and it does turn out to be cheaper, if you're willing to put in the effort).

Ingredients

500 g water

200 g white vinegar

200 g jalapeños, cut in quarters lengthwise

100 g onion, sliced

100 g carrots, sliced

10 small dry bay leaves

oil for frying

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1 - Heat a small amount of oil in a large saute pan over low heat.

2 - Add the carrots, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. 

3 - Add the jalapeños and onions, and continue to cook for 5 minutes.

4 - Add the vinegar, and cook for about 15 more minutes.

5 - Add salt, pepper and bay leaves. Stir, and cook on low for 10 minutes.

6 - Add the water. Once the water boils, continue to cook the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes.

7 - Remove the bay leaves, and allow the mixture to cool.

8 - Put the chiles en vinagre mixture into glass jars with tight-fitting lids.

9 - Refrigerate, and enjoy for months and months.

Burritos

The burrito lunch special in Mexico City in Los Burros de la Condesa

According to the package of my burrito-sized tortillas, the idea of the burrito was invented during the Mexican Revolution (ca. 1910) in Ciudad Juarez, Chihauhau (near the border of Texas). The story goes that a local food vendor wrapped whatever filling in large flour tortillas to keep the food inside warm during transportation. So popular was this new food that he had to get a burro (a donkey for those super gringos out there) to carry all of his orders. Eventually, people started asking for the food from the burrito - and thus a new handheld food was born and named. (I don't know how true this is; I could not confirm on wikipedia, but why would Tia Rosa lie to me?)

With that story, the definition of a burrito is open to a broad range of interpretations - as long as whatever is completely wrapped in a giant flour tortilla. Here in Mexico City, the schmear of beans and the small quantity of cheese and meat served with fresh salsa and lime tastes delicious, but falls a bit flat (literally - there is not enough filling) next to the over-stuffed burritos of the American tradition.

Anything goes with burritos, so try this recipe (which I developed when jones-ing for a Qdoba 3-cheese burrito) or use it as a template for your favorite meats and salsas.

Ingredients
large (10-inch) flour tortillas
white rice
refried beans
steak, cut in thin strips
raw onion, diced
cilantro, chopped
cheese sauce (see 9/26 post)
(*all of the above should be warm or heated before assembly*)
salsa verde (see 2/16 post)
media crema, or sour cream
shredded Mexican cheese (see 8/1 post)


 Directions

1 - Heat tortilla 20 seconds in the microwave or on a comal. (Be careful on the comal that it doesn't get crispy, or it will be difficult to fold up.)

2 - Add a scoop of rice to the center.

3 - Add a spoonful of beans and the strips of steak to the rice.

4 - Sprinkle on some raw onion and cilantro.

5 - Add the cheese sauce, salsa verde and media crema.

6 - Sprinkle on some additional shredded cheese.

7 - Now, for the fun part - trying to roll it up! Fold in two opposite sides so that they meet in the middle, or even better overlap. Then, fold the other sides in to the middle in the same way, and flip it over to sit on its seam. (This is not how the professionals do it, but with only a 10-inch burrito and the amount of filling that I put in, you pretty much got to do whatever you can to keep it closed.)

8 - Enjoy! (And although ideally it should be handheld, I recommend having a spoon nearby for any rogue filling that escapes.)