- Is there anything more satisfying than a really good sandwich?

This beauty here is Mexican torta.

And we're learning about it from a guy who's got his name on it.

(upbeat music) Manny, I love your tortas.

- Tortas are one of the food that is really original from Mexico.

They're as famous as tacos.

But they don't know that much about tortas in the United States.

- Torta is a popular word, when it comes to food in South America and much of Europe.

It's a cake or a pie.

In parts of the Philippines it's a type of omelet.

In Spain, torta is a flatbread.

And of course in Mexico, it's a sandwich.

Manny, what's your secret with your tortas?

- What make a tortas is the Mexican ingredients.

Tortas start with the bread and then avocado, tomato, onions, jalapenos, chipotle mayonnaise.

Oh, and beans.

Don't forget the beans.

That's what make a Mexican grilled torta different than different kind of sandwiches.

- Tortas date back to the 1800's.

Many say it was the French occupation of Mexico that sparked the creation.

When Mexican bakers took inspiration from the French baguette to create their own breads.

To this day many Mexican tortas are still made on those classic breads.

The soft flat telera and the crunchy bolillo which is similar to a baguette, but shorter.

- We're gonna make today, the Manny special.

And this is the kind of torta that I make for myself.

Because there's like two ingredients that I love.

That's beef and pork.

- So Manny, what do we need to get ready to make the sandwich?

- Let's start for the sauce.

I'm gonna make the chipotle mayonnaise.

First the chipotle.

Chipotle is a Mexican pepper and adobo sauce.

- [Yia] What I really love about chipotle is their smokiness.

- [Manny] It's smokey, yeah.

All right, so this is one of the elements for the torta.

So the next thing, you know, how about the beans?

To do the beans, we gonna throw in a pot.

Put water on it and let it cook for like about two hours.

- [Yia] So what kind of beans are these?

- [Manny] These are pinto beans.

- [Yia] Pinto beans.

- [Manny] I always use pinto beans.

The other ingredient I have to do I have to saute some onions.

- We let that cook down?

- [Manny] And we let it cook down and then we just gonna throw it in there.

- [Yia] Okay.

- [Manny] And we gonna smash the beans.

- [Yia] Okay, so you don't want the beans whole, We kind of we'll smash it to make it like a kind of a paste.

- [Manny] Yes, yep.

- [Yia] Okay, I see.

- [Manny] Yeah and you know, that reminds me, you know I started cooking because my mom.

You know, in the kitchen I always see her doing this and I helped help her in the kitchen since I was a kid, so.

- I mean, Manny, you're really working it there, you know?

- [Manny] I know, yeah.

This is my gym.

- [Yia] Yeah.

- All right, but seems like this is kind of done.

All right, so you take your bread and put some butter.

And then put it on the grill or in a pan.

And on this side, the top side, we are gonna spread the beans.

- Okay, you put the beans right on.

- [Manny] Yeah.

- [Yia] Okay.

- [Manny] We spread the love.

So we let it toast it, okay?

Make sure it's nice and toast.

- So, the beans goes right on?

- Right there.

- Oh, wow, I didn't know that, okay.

Are tortas always warm?

- [Manny] Yes, supposed to be warm.

You can eat a cold too, but warm is the best way to eat it.

- Tortas can be filled with almost anything.

Each region in Mexico gives this dish its own spin.

One of the most wildly known comes from Guadalajara.

The torta ahogada, which is dunked and smothered in salsa.

The bread on a pambazo is also dunked in salsa but the whole torta gets fried before serving.

This version often stuffed with potato and chorizo is popular in Mexico city.

Also popular there, the torta de tamal, which is stuffed with a tamale.

- [Manny] Okay, so you see, it gets nice and toasty.

- That's really cool because it was it's like soggy when you put it on.

- Yeah, but now it's a crust.

- [Yia] That's great.

- [Manny] So, okay.

We gonna cook now the vegetables, put a little oil, some tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers, and mushrooms.

- The first thing I'm thinking about while you're doing this is I'm thinking to myself, wow that's already so much ingredients.

It's like, how are we gonna put more in there, you know?

- Well, we, yeah, we still need to put the meat, so.

- [Yia] This is the exciting part for me.

- [Manny] Yeah.

Jamón.

Ham.

- [Yia] I wish people can like smell this right now.

So incredible.

- [Manny] Yeah, isn't that good?

- This is very important, right?

The structure.

- This is very important, the structure, yeah.

- [Yia] So you lay the ham down almost like a sheet.

- [Manny] It's like a bed, yeah.

(laughs) Like a bed, like a yeah.

- Sometimes that's kind of how I wanna do my bed.

You know, lay some ham down on my bed.

- And then we just gonna put some cheese.

- Yeah.

- [Manny] Now I take this part of the bread.

Then we just gonna put some avocados in there.

And then with my signature.

Now this is the tricky part.

- [Yia] This like ham magic carpet ride right here.

- [Manny] And then just put it here.

- [Yia] Oh!

- [Manny] Like that.

- [Yia] Look at that.

That cross section just tells a whole story.

- [Manny] Yeah.

- [Yia] It looks so delicious.

Let's eat!

(chill music) - [Manny] Oh, I'm so excited to eat the Manny special.

- I am so excited to eat your special.

- We have to have a drink.

And that reminds me when I was a kid, I used to eat this with a Coca-Cola.

- This isn't just like any Coca-Cola, right?

- Oh no, no, this a Mexican Coca-Cola.

So you ready?

- Yes.

How do I attack this thing?

- Okay, so first you have to peel the paper.

- Sometimes I get super hungry and I'll eat the paper.

- Cheers.

- Cheers, buddy.

Manny, one of the things that I love about your tortas and especially the Manny special is every time you go in for a bite, you get a different flavor.

Because of the perfect combination of all the ingredients that you have in there, you know?

- Yeah.

Just simple meal and it's so full of a lot of deliciousness ingredients, you know?

And yeah, it bring me memories.

When I used to go to school my mom used to make me tortas for school.

- What did she put in it?

Usually ham, ham torta.

Turkey, steak.

But she didn't put like the chipotle mayonnaise, she just put like the, the chipotle pepper.

- Oh, wow.

- Yeah, just like it was more hot.

Yeah, I'm so glad that I made this.

And you know, people can try it and see, you know, the real Mexican Torta.

And, how to live la vida torta.

- Yes.

(upbeat chill music) - You know what you remind me right now?

Like a Benihana cook.

- Yeah.

Teppanyaki?

- Yeah, teppanyaki Benihana.

I'm waiting for you to flip it and put it right in your hat.

Hey, and throw it in my pocket.

(upbeat chill music)