The torta de bacalao at Cook’s Tortas in Monterey Park is stuffed with a Mexican-style salted cod guisado, seasoned with olives, red pepper and garlic. All of the restaurant’s tortas are made with chewy, ciabatta-like handmade rolls baked fresh each morning. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
A torta is more than just a Mexican version of a beefed-up sandwich; it is an entirely different species. A good torta trumps tacos in portability, heft and, most of the time, value. Here are eight of the city’s most notable tortas.
The cemita de barbacoa de borrego at Cemitas Don Adrian in the San Fernando Valley is distinguishable by the sesame seed-studded, clam-shaped, sweet-and-salty bun. The spicy lamb barbacoa in this one shines, along with the rest of the sandwich’s bold flavors. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
A more avant-garde take on the torta, the unagi eel torta at Tacos Punta Cabras in Santa Monica, involves a Mexican-Japanese mishmash of Kewpie mayonnaise, black bean-avocado leaf paste, baked unagi eel in a sweet soy sauce, avocado, tomato, cilantro and raw onion on a telera bun. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
At La Monarca, the mollete de soyrizo is the open-faced tartine version of a torta, smeared with smooth refried beans and topped with queso fresco, cotija or a melty adobera or queso Chihuahua. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
The innovative mushroom tinga torta at Torta Company in Los Angeles takes the tinga technique (a kind of chipotle-based stew) and applies it to mushrooms, making for an unexpectedly satisfying meaty filling that won’t leave you in a food coma afterward. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
The pambazo, made popular in Mexico City, is served at La Placita del DF in Boyle Heights. This sandwich defies the torta paradigm with its mashed potato-chorizo filling. It is also submerged in a burgundy-hued guajillo chile sauce and then grilled until the edges get crispy. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
Torta de carnitas de pato at Cacao Mexicatessen perfectly captures the restaurant’s quaintly classy, refreshing approach. It is duck confit with Mexican spices. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
The torta ahogada, here at Tortas Bravas in Downey, is a torta that uses a special sourdough birote salado bread indigenous to Guadalajara. It is stuffed with caramelized pork carnitas and a smear of pinto beans, drowned in a tomato chile de arbol salsa and topped with pickled onions. (Javier Cabral / For the Los Angeles Times)
