The palm-sized torta at La Texoacana offers a glimpse at the tiny, traditional, cold tortas of yore. By the time it was written up in the New York Times in 2007, the tiny Mexico City storefront was already more than seven decades old. The fillings haven’t got caught up in the modern (hot dog) or Western (mayonnaise) trends that other tortas have. Salt cod is popular, along with sardine in tomato sauce, and mortadella. More of a snack than a meal (or three) that are the heaping “tortas gigantes” plying the street carts, the telera here is barely more than five inches long, spread with avocado and garnished with chipotle peppers.
Another of Mexico City’s grandly indulgent style of sandwiches is the pepito. It forgoes the amalgam of meat products that make up the Cubana in favor of one great meat: sliced, grilled steak, marinated in Maggi sauce or Worcestershire. It is a sandwich that has fully embraced some of the newer, Western elements tortas have absorbed: As a “seasoned pepito eater,” Santibañez suggests in his recipe that it is best served with mayo and even a little mustard.
