Guanajuatan Guacamaya

There are, I am realizing, far more types of torta in Mexico than I could have known when I wrote about tortas in general several years ago. The standard type of torta we commonly think of is versatile enough, featuring fillings from chorizo to chicken tinga, shredded meats like carnitas or cochinita pibil, barbacoa or birria, whole-muscle meats like ham or cecina or milanesa, or even interesting and exotic vegetarian fillings like huitlacoche or fried zucchini blossoms, any or all of these enhanced by beans and cheese, vegetables and sauces, avocados and sour cream in a wide soft telera roll or a crisp bolillo. But Mexican sandwich culture goes deeper than that. I’ve been reminded recently of the glories of the Torta Ahogada or drowned sandwich, served in a warm dish of spicy salsa made with chiles de arbol when I returned to a spot in Champaign where I tried a memorably spicy version years ago. Recently I wrote about a similar sandwich called the chancla, where the sauce the…