Enchilada Suiza is a popular Mexican dish consisting of enchiladas topped with a sauce based on milk or cream. The first one was made in a restaurant named Sanborn in Mexico City. The name of the dish can be translated as Swiss enchiladas because the Swiss immigrants introduced dairy-based sauces to Mexican cuisine.
Mexican tortas are luscious traditional sandwiches filled with delicious, mostly authentic Mexican ingredients. They are a unique Mexican creation, considering they are served in bread rolls, an ingredient that is not so often associated with Mexico. There are two bread varieties usually incorporated in tortas, the traditional French influenced bolillos, and the similar round teleras, which are an authentic Mexican product from Puebla. The rolls are sliced horizontally, buttered, and stuffed with the most popular Mexican ingredients such as beans, avocados, ham, queso, jalapeños, and a myriad of other typical Mexican dishes like fried beef or chicken, shredded beef, roasted pork, and even tamales. Tortas are traditionally served cold, but in the 1960s, the hot, grill-heated varieties started to appear and soon became equally famous. There is not much known about the origin of this hearty sandwich, but it is believed that during the French colonization, French bakers introduced their tradition of baking bread to Mexicans, who modified it and created their popular varieties, which later became a staple of Mexican cuisine. The birthplace of the torta is usually associated with the city of Puebla, the place where traditional telera originated, but the location where they flourished was Mexico City. Although tortas have not been widely recognized outside of Mexico as tacos, burritos, and tortillas, they are a favorite meal eaten throughout the country. Tortas are usually sold at food stalls and small restaurants, popularly called torterias, widespread across Mexican cities. The variations and regionally influenced creations of tortas are endless. The most common ones are cubana, which usually combines at least four meat varieties and two types of cheese; pepito, made with marinated sliced steak; cochinita, made with slowly roasted pork; and agohada, a Guadalajara favorite made with pork and served in tomato sauce.
Salsa verde enchiladas is a Mexican dish prepared by covering enchiladas with green salsa. The enchiladas are traditionally filled with shredded chicken, and the salsa is made with small green tomatillos, chili peppers, coriander, parsley, onions, garlic, and oregano. Once filled with chicken, the enchiladas are covered with salsa verde, and the dish is typically topped with shredded cheese, onions, and coriander. Some cooks like to add sour cream as an additional topping, as it balances the sharp acidity of the green salsa.
Burrito is a dish consisting of a wheat flour tortilla that is wrapped in such a way that it is possible to fully enclose the flavorful filling on the interior. The filling consists of a combination of various ingredients such as meat, beans, rice, lettuce, guacamole, and cheese, among others. Its name means little donkey in Spanish, and a popular theory suggests that it stems from the way the bedrolls and packs appeared on the donkeys that carried them. Some claim that the dish originated in the 19th century by either the vaqueros in Northern Mexico, farmers in California, or the miners from Sonora. The first appearance of burrito in American restaurants was recorded in the early 1920s in Los Angeles, when the owner Alejandro Borquez opened the Sonora Café and started serving the dish. He changed the name of the restaurant to El Cholo Spanish Café, and it's still in business. Once it became popular across the United States, numerous variations of the dish started appearing, such as Thai chicken burrito, Chinese pork burrito, and breakfast burrito.
Enchiladas consist of a tortilla that is usually dipped in a chile-based sauce, then stuffed with various fillings such as cheese, meat, or fish. Then it is rolled up, baked, and topped with sauces, onions, beans, or more cheese. This highly versatile dish is believed to have originated from a Mayan dish called papadzules, consisting of corn tortillas dipped in pumpkin purée and filled with chopped boiled eggs. From there, numerous variations developed throughout Mexico and outside of its borders. The word enchilada, which first appeared in print in 1885, comes from the Spanish word enchilar, meaning to season with chile pepper. Today, there are countless versions of enchiladas. In northern Mexico's Sonora, they make them open-faced, topped with black olives and a red chile sauce, while the New Mexico version is prepared by layering the tortillas in a tall stack with cheese and onions between each layer. Enchiladas have become so popular that there is even a National Enchilada Day (in the US), celebrated every year on May 5, also known as Cinco de Mayo.
Pambazo is both the name of a Mexican bread and the name of the sandwich made using that same bread. Its name stems from pan basso, a type of peasant bread reserved for the lower classes through history. The bread is commonly dipped in a spicy, pepper-onion-garlic sauce called guajillo, giving the sandwich a unique, bright orange color. Typically, the sandwich is filled with ingredients such as potatoes, refried beans, avocado slices, chicken, and chorizo sausage, but during Lent, street vendors often substitute the meat with cheese. Pambazos are especially popular in the area of Puebla and Veracruz, and it is said that they make a great light supper, especially when paired with a freshly prepared salad on the side.
Cemita is a popular Mexican sandwich originating from Puebla, consisting of a fresh, sesame seed-sprinkled bun filled with tiny strands of shredded cheese, avocado slices, pickled jalapeños, papalo (herb with a unique flavor), and cutlets of meat such as pork, beef, or chicken, all fried in breadcrumbs. The sandwich can be additionally stuffed with tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise. The name cemita refers both to the bun and the sandwich.
Torta ahogada is Guadalajara's signature sandwich, a salted bun that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the interior, filled with pork, and submerged in a spicy salsa consisting of vinegar, cumin, and chile de árbol pepper. The sandwich is then filled with onions, mild tomato-garlic salsa, and a squeeze of lime juice. It was invented in the early 1900s, and today it is a staple dish for curing hangovers, usually found on small stands on street corners and busy urban centers.
Mulitas are sometimes described as "quesadillas on steroids". The Mexican dish usually consists of a crispy tortilla filled with chunks of grilled meat, cheese, and salsa or guacamole topping, although the fillings may vary from one food stand to another. The name of the dish literally means little mule, referring to the fact that the food is wrapped and transferred from a street vendor to the consumer. It is recommended to top each mulita with another tortilla and drizzle it with lime juice.
Enchiladas mineras are traditional Mexican enchiladas hailing from Guanajuato, a mining town where the women took this dish to their husbands at the end of their work hours. These enchiladas are traditionally filled with onions, cheese, and a stew-like combination of carrots and potatoes. Once assembled, the filled enchiladas are topped with the remaining sauce and baked until the sauce begins to bubble. They're then served over a bed of lettuce and often garnished with jalapeños, shredded cheese, or tomatillo salsa.
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