Dancing Tortas Cubanas - Favorite

This “recipe” is inspired by the Tortas Cubanas at Tortas Don Polo in Felix Cuevas, Colonia del Valle, Mexico City, where I used to enjoy them during my high school years, sometimes with my parents and sometimes with friends.

During high school, my friend Paty and I would take turns occasionally preparing tortas to bring for recess. We’d start with a telera, add mayonnaise, ham, Mexican manchego cheese (think Muenster), and a generous splash of Worcestershire sauce for good measure. No grilling, just room temperature wrapped in parchment paper.

Our high school cafeteria also offered grilled tortas de milanesa for $35 pesos. Paty and I found it amusing to ask our friends for spare change. They were always happy to donate the annoying coins jingling in their pockets, helping us scrape together enough money for a torta. Once we had enough cash to buy one, we’d split the torta in half. Credit cards were definitely not a thing in those days!

I was also happy to contribute my own spare change to other classmates’ tortas as they followed the same method. Somehow, this was a thing we all did. And, perhaps because it took a little effort and a lot of loose change to get there, that torta always seemed to taste even more delicious!

Sometimes, when we (thankfully) didn't have class, my friends and I would walk about five blocks to Tortas Don Polo and have a Torta Cubana with a horchata drink. What could be better?

A Little History

Torta vendors were already selling filled breads in Mexico City by the late 19th century, and the form became an important part of inexpensive urban food culture. A torta is a large sandwich on a crusty roll. Torta fillings include:

• Meats: Carne asada (grilled beef), milanesa (see above), carnitas (slow-cooked pork), jamón (ham), or fried eggs.
• Spreads: Refried beans, mayonnaise, and guacamole.
• Toppings: Tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, lettuce, and queso fresco (fresh Mexican cheese), and the ever-present jalapeños and other vegetables in escabeche (pickled). 

Tortas Don Polo opened the famous Félix Cuevas restaurant in 1960, where they sold fruit juices and licuados and introduced hot, griddled tortas rather than serving them room temperature, as was customary.

And the "Cubana"?

This is where things get fun. There isn’t a single, universally accepted origin story for the torta Cubana. Several Mexico City stories compete for the honor.

One version says the sandwich originated around República de Cuba Street in the Centro Histórico, where torta vendors began creating increasingly elaborate sandwiches. Another connects the name to Cuba and Fidel Castro, who was in Mexico during the 1950s. And a third tradition credits Don Polo himself with creating the torta Cubana. I’m going with a combination of the first and third stories.

The Don Polo Cubana is much more restrained than the enormous "Cubanas" that include roasted pork, ham, wieners, chorizo, and all kinds of greasy ingredients that spoil the experience. Don Polo's version is quite elegant: pierna (roasted pork, not available in the US), Cheddar or American cheese, ham, beans, avocado, and butter. (Ingredientes: pierna, queso amarillo, jamón, frijoles, aguacate, mantequilla y rajas). The combination of ingredients is interesting enough to make you eat a whole torta and crave another one the next day. This recipe is inspired by this simple version.

Ingredients

For 4 tortas

Pork

2 12-oz packages of Niman Ranch, Applewood Smoked Pulled Pork, No Sauce (See notes)
½ tsp garlic powder, plus more to taste
2–3 tablespoons water, as needed

For the tortas

4 Mexican teleras, one per torta
8 slices smoked ham — ask the deli for ½ lb, sliced for sandwiches
8 slices American cheese — ask the deli for ½ lb, sliced
1¼–1½ cups refried pinto beans, warmed
2 large ripe avocados, sliced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Pickled jalapeños and carrots

Preparation

1. Warm and season the pulled pork

• Place the 24 oz of pulled pork in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ½ tsp garlic powder and 2–3 tablespoons water or unsalted stock.
• Cover and heat for 5–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pork is hot and juicy. Taste and add a little more garlic powder if desired.
• Keep covered over very low heat while preparing the tortas.
• For each torta, use approximately 4 oz of pork. You'll have about 8 oz leftover.

2. Warm the beans

• Warm 1¼–1½ cups refried pinto beans in a small saucepan or container. If they're too thick to spread easily, stir in a tablespoon or two of water until they're creamy and spreadable.
• Keep warm.

3. Prepare the telera

• Slice each telera horizontally.
• Spread softened butter generously over the cut sides. 
• Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and place the teleras butter-side down.
• Toast until the cut surfaces are light golden brown and soft, then remove them from the griddle.
• Spread approximately 1/4 - 1/3 cup refried beans over the bottom half of the toasted telera.
• Add several slices of avocado.
• Add 4 oz of the warm garlic-seasoned pulled pork.

4. Prepare the ham and cheese

1. For each torta, place 2 slices of smoked ham on the hot griddle.
2. Immediately place 2 slices of American cheese on top of the ham.
3. Heat for about 30–60 seconds, until the ham is hot and the cheese is soft and beginning to melt together.

5. Assemble each torta

For each torta:

1. Place the ham and melted American cheese over the pork.
2. Add several pickled jalapeños and carrots.
3. Close with the top half of the telera.

6. Finish on the griddle

• Return the assembled torta to the griddle for about 20–30 seconds per side.
• Press it gently with a spatula, just enough to bring the layers together without crushing the telera or squeezing out the avocado.
• Serve immediately with additional pickled jalapeños and carrots on the side.

See how they're made in this video