8.17.2008

I think this Cemita is bigger than my head

I think the cemita is bigger than my headOne of the specialty foods of Puebla is the Cemita, which is basically the same thing as a Torta, which is is the Mexican take on a sandwich.  The difference with the Cemita, as far as I can tell is that the bread is usually a bit more oval shaped than round like most tortas.  If you´ve never had a cemita or torta, they are both sandwiches on something that approximates a really nice kaiser roll, although generally a bit bigger, where much of teh bread inside has been scooped out to make room for the filling.  You can get just about anything on a torta that you can get on a taco (chicken, carne asada, bbq pork, carnitas, etc...), although they generally don´t have standard american sandwiches like ham and cheese and nothing else.  Cemitas tend to be similar, but often have "milenesa", which is a really thinly pounded, breaded chicken cutlet, avocado, and quesilla. 


Cemita CubanaI went to a place called "La Poblanita" for lunch today, on a recommendation from a local.  The name basically translates into¨"the little woman from Puebla."  While the owner may be a little woman from Puebla, the sandwiches are anything but little.  As you can see by the picture on the right, the cemita that I got, a Cemita Cubana, was just about the size of my head.  It was freaking enormous.  I asked the guys at my table, who had ordered the same thing, if they could eat the whole thing.  They told me that theirs was just an apetizer and they were getting another cemita in a few minutes.  Suffice it to say that none of us actually finished our cemitas.  We all came pretty close... I´d say I ate 3/4 of it.  The Cubana was a combo of ham, chorizo, milanesa, avocado, quesillo (which is a dryish shredded cheese that you would put in quesidillas), lettuce, and egg.  I ate it about 3 hours ago and I´m still full!


Chile Chips
I also stopped by a couple of street fairs today and couldn´t resist the freshly made potato chips with chile sauce on top.  Despite the fact that the woman recommended against it because it would be too spicy, I got the chips with everything on them, which included 5 different chile sauces, chile powder, and some sort of vinegar infused with some other flavor (tamarind?).  It was delicious!  And I generally don´t like potato chips all that much!

3 comments:

Alex (aslinth) said...

omg, the food sounds amazing!! here's an interesting Latin American comparison. In Argentina, when you ask for a torta, all you get is a ham and cheese sandwich. And the milanesa there is pounded beef, go figure ;)

Anonymous said...

Was it bigger than the chili bowl?

Mike Hollander said...

The only food that I´ve ordered that was bigger was the sandwich at that Jewish deli that we went to with the Gaffens in New Jersey...