What the Heck is a Torta?

LET’S CHAT ABOUT IT

Throughout my whole life, whenever I was at a Mexican restaurant and saw “tortas” on a menu, I always found myself confused. A Mexican sandwich? That didn’t seem right to me. Wasn’t a taco basically a Mexican sandwich?

Yes, that was my closed-minded white girl view of that weird menu item — that torta, that taco on a roll — and I subsequently ignored it for twenty-two whole years of my life.

I’ve talked extensively about how I have used this class as a reason to try new things and be adventurous with Mexican food in a way that I never would have on my own. So, at a very high position on my list of things to try, tortas were finally on my radar after a whole life of ignoring that section of menus.

I said this on my Instagram post about my first torta, but I’ll say it again here: I’m a sandwich gal. I have always loved sandwiches — all kinds — so I was destined to love tortas too. And, of course, I did!

There’s a lot going on on a torta. There’s at least five different toppings plus the meat of your choosing (I went with chorizo con huevo because, I’ve said it once I’ll say it a million times, I love chorizo) so I’d argue that it might not be for everyone… but it’s sure for me.

Did you know that a torta is something that exists in a wide array of cuisines and it doesn’t always mean a sandwich? Spanish, Italian, Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian, and many other cuisines also have a dish called a torta, but it can refer to a flatbread or cake or omelette in addition to a sandwich. We love a queen of many talents!

My point is: tortas are delicious and they are very often overlooked by those who aren’t that familiar with Mexican food — those people like me before this class who might only know tacos and Chipotle.

So go eat a torta.