Day 3: Welcome to Sabor Country

I love sandwiches. Such a simple concept, get some bread and put other stuff inside it. When I was a child there was one type of sandwich. It was a couple of slices of bread from a loaf of presliced white or wheat bread with some peanut butter and jelly or turkey and mayo.

Then sometime in the late 80's I became aware of the world outside pb&j. It came in the form of Subway. I know subway is just you run of the mill chain sandwich shop but back then it was a revelation. It was an exotic combination of meats and toppings, the choices seemed endless. ever since those early subway days I have craved the most exotic sandwiches i could find.

This brings me to one of my current favorite sandwiches. It is a traditional Mexican sandwich called a Torta. I know most people have never heard of the Torta and think Mexican food is only Tacos and Burritos. But those people are wrong (and possibly racist).

Tortas are a full flavored punch to the gut with all the fantastic flavors from south of the border along with the homey comfort only a sandwich can deliver. To start you need a special kind of bread called Bollilo (like a soft baguette) that is grilled and pressed flat, you can fill it with anything you might find in a taco (not the Sloppy Joe-esque tacos from Taco Bell), my favorite meat for this preparation is chicken or grilled and chopped cow tongue, but you can also put a schnitzel in. Then come the things that make this sandwich truly great there are sliced tomatoes, lots of shredded lettuce, canned jalapenos, a thin kind of guacamole sauce, refried beans (though I usually ask them to withhold that item) and a little mayonnaise.

These treats are usually only available in the kind of Mexican restaurants that are patronized mostly by expat Mexicans. It is worth finding those little hole in the wall restaurants, the kind your mom wouldn't want you eating in, because a good torta is a great, filling and usually cheap lunch.