Torta Vs. Cemita: What's The Difference Between The Sandwiches?

Tortas and cemitas are two delicious Mexican sandwiches that, at first glance, seem to be pretty similar to each other. Tortas are more of your all-purpose sandwich, and can contain a meat filling (often typical sandwich fillings, like sliced meats, or the same sort of filling you'd get in a taco), along with other things like refried beans, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, crema — pretty much the sky's the limit. They're often served on either a bolillo or a telera roll, and they're pretty easy to get your hands on at many Mexican restaurants. There's plenty of variations as well, like the torta ahogada, which is drowned in a chile and tomato sauce (one of a long list of deliberately soggy sandwiches).

Cemitas, however, are a little bit more of a specialist. They originate from Puebla, and their main signifier is the eponymous sesame-speckled bread. Cemitas can come a mile high, stacked with fillings like milanesa (breaded, fried cutlet), ham, stringy Oaxaca cheese, avocado, and more. Another common ingredient in cemitas is an herb called papalo, which is common in Pueblan cuisine, and which people describe as having a specific flavor all its own. This herb can be difficult to find in the United States, and is sometimes replaced with cilantro. Cemitas as well won't be seen on every menu, but you can usually find them at places that specialize in Pueblan cuisine. (These are also great places to get an introduction to molé, another dish that originated in the region.)

Celebrity chef Rick Bayless, known for his specialty in Mexican cuisine, explains on his website that "In Puebla, cemitas are most often constructed with crispy-breaded milanesa." The pounded, breaded, and fried cutlets can be made of pretty much any type of meat, including chicken, pork, or beef, and constitute a common filling not only for these sandwiches, but for many other sandwiches throughout Central and South America. Honestly, who doesn't love a fried cutlet? Along with the avocado, cheese, and papalo, smoky chipotles in adobo sauce are sometimes used to dress the cemita sandwich. 

Tortas, on the other hand, can be a little looser, and aren't necessarily confined to certain types of fillings. That means there are many variations on the torta, such as the aforementioned torta ahogada, torta de tamal (a tamale sandwich) and torta de chilaquiles (both carb-on-carb sandwiches), and pambazos, a sandwich whose bread is dipped in salsa made out of guajillo chiles. Either way, you can't really go wrong — if you want a terrific Mexican sandwich, both cemitas and tortas are a great way to scratch that itch.