Simply Sandwiches

Ok, it’s not really a throwdown – everyone’s a winner when it comes to delicious Mexican sandwiches. Since moving to Sunset Park, I’ve been ravenously sampling the neighborhood’s torta offerings. A torta is a beast of a sandwich – a round white roll piled with (usually) one or more meats, white cheese, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, jalapenos and crema (like sour cream but thinner and tastier). Tortas come in many varieties – the classic version is the milanesa de res or pollo, a fried cutlet of beef or chicken with all the aforementioned toppings. A personal favorite of mine is the Hawaiian – pork, ham and, you guessed it, a ring of pineapple. Most tortas are pressed, which helps keep the tower of fillings under control – though this is still not a sandwich you can eat particularly neatly. I enjoy them most in the privacy of my apartment, where I don’t have to worry about crema splatters and wayward jalapenos.

The torta has a cousin, the cemita, who I’m just getting familiar with. The main difference is the bread – cemitas are made on a sturdier, darker roll that’s usually covered in sesame seeds. I believe they are also made with fewer toppings than tortas, though this hypothesis needs more research.

To illustrate the differences between these two tasty sandwich varieties, I went to a local favorite, Flor de Piaxtla (4202 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY) and ordered a torta rusa (breaded beef, ham and cheese) and a chorizo and egg cemita (both $5). The torta rusa is a favorite of my dining companion, and it’s easy to see why. The beef and ham, while perfectly decent, aren’t the star of this sandwich – it’s the big juicy jalapenos, the creamy avocado chunks, the unexpected layer of beans, and the chewy melted cheese that make it unique.

The cemita, in this case, was much simpler – yet it was my favorite of the two. The sesame seed-studded bread is much chewier, holding in all the fillings admirably. The chipotle sauce covering the chorizo chunks is addictively spicy and smoky. It was, possibly, just the sauce from a can of chipotle peppers, but I don’t care. It soaks into the sturdy roll without creating too much mess – this sandwich is much easier to eat than the torta rusa. The chorizo, scrambled eggs, and gooey white cheese meld into a beautiful mass of fillings – in some sandwiches that’s an undesirable effect, but in this case it’s delicious.

The result of my research so far? Some Mexican sandwiches are complex, some are simple – but I haven’t found a bad one yet, and they’re cheap enough to continue sampling for a long time to come.

Both sandwiches have decent, but not outstanding quality:

Check out the layers on the torta rusa:

Another torta rusa view:

Chorizo and eggs – breakfast anytime: