Roast Pork Sandwiches Jalisco-style (Tortas Ahogadas)

“Tortas” are not only “cakes” or things in the shape of round cakes, but sandwiches. These wonderful open-faced sandwiches are traditional in  Jalisco state.  I have not seen them elsewhere. I became addicted to them after I persuaded my parents to transfer me from the perfect-housewife “finishing school” to the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Guadalajara. The school cafeteria had a fabulous cook who used to make this garlicky, spicy version of tortas ahogadas. It was so delicious that the taste haunted me for ten years, until I duplicated it from memory.  It  is a great winter party dish.

Ths sandwich or torta is a relative of the French Dip sandwich but instead of dunking it, you are drowning”  in the sauce, hence the name. “Ahogadas” means drowned. I didn’t add more sauce so you could see all the layers.

Good French rolls are the closest equivalent of the Mexican bolillos, which deserve a book in their own right. Mexican wheat and our bread flour are of very high quality. Since the short, doomed reign of the Emperor Maximilian in the l860s Mexican bakeries have been producing many types of bread and rolls at least as good as those of Paris or Vienna. (For a fascinating account, see the chapter “La Panaderia” in Diana Kennedy’s Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico.) Anyone who visits Mexico without sampling some of the breads is missing one of the national glories. Every state has its own interpretation of bolillos, but they are universally wonderful. I have a prejudice in favor of the version in Chihuahua state (where the wheat is especially good), but the Jaliscan rolls are good too.

The word ahogada means “drowned,” and the sandwiches should literally be swimming in the sauce. Ladle it on generously.

4  l/2 pounds pork shoulder,  in one piece

8  garlic cloves, minced

l   tablespoon Mexican oregano, rubbed between your hands to release flavor

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 crusty French rolls

3 – 4  cups Salsa de Chipotle (recipe follows)

l  cup Crema Agria Preparada

l  avocado, peeled and cut lengthwise into thin slivers

Preheat oven to 475 . Combine minced garlic with the oregano and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. With small sharp knife, make gashes an inch deep all over the roast and fill with garlic mixture. Rub the outside of the roast with more salt and pepper. Place meat in shallow roasting pan and bake at 475 for 20 minutes, to seal in the juices. Lower heat to 350  and continue to bake until tender and thoroughly cooked, about 2 hours and l5 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 20 minutes. Carve into thin slices.

Warm the rolls briefly in the oven and slice in half lengthwise. Remove some of the inside if desired to make room for filling. Spoon 2 tablespoons of Salsa de Chipotle over each half-roll. Arrange pork slices on top. Drench with about l/4 cup more sauce. Dot with l tablespoon of the prepared sour cream. Garnish with avocado slices and serve immediately, allowing 2 open-faced sandwich halves per serving.

Serves 4 – 6 as luncheon dish — but they’re so good they might not go that far.

SALSA DE CHIPOTLE

(Chipotle Sauce)

This is a very versatile sauce. Tortas Ahogadas would not be the same without it, but it has many other possible uses. At Restaurant Pardinos in Veracruz and Mexico City it is served with shrimp. My mother makes wonderful meatballs in it. Experiment!

2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil

2 large garlic cloves, minced

l  medium onion, chopped (about l cup)

Pan drippings from roast pork for Tortas Ahogadas (see above),

optional

2  l/2 – 3     pounds very ripe tomatoes (5 – 6 large tomatoes) or l twenty-

eight-ounce can tomatoes (plain, without puree)

l  l/2           teaspoons Mexican oregano (p. 000)

Pinch of sugar

l/2              teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 – 3            canned chipotles en adobo (p. 000) with a little of the

sauce that clings to them

Heat lard or oil in medium saucepan until almost smoking. Add onion and garlic and saute over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about  2 – 3 minutes. Add optional pan drippings, tomatoes, chipotle chiles, oregano, sugar, and salt. Stir thoroughly to combine and simmer uncovered over low heat l0 – l5 minutes, stirring often. Puree sauce in a blender. With a wooden spoon or pusher, force it through a sieve.

If you want a milder sauce, remove all or some of chipotle chiles before pureeing.

Keeps up to 3 days tightly covered in refrigerator, or indefinitely in freezer.

Yield: about 3 – 4 cups.