Commentary: Ode to the bolillo

When I go to Mexico City (for me, it will always be DF, I don't care that they changed the name to CDMX), the first thing I do is look for a place to get a torta.

Ideally, I go to La Choza Encantada or Torta Loca in Sotelo, where I used to live, but there are many other places to choose from. Because tortas in Mexico are incomparable, including the bolillo, which is the city's sacred bread.

It's no coincidence that the guajolota, or tamal torta, exists, which consists of putting a tamal inside a bolillo, or the chilaquiles torta, which contains the golden, saucy tortilla pieces inside the bread for a delicious, carb-rich meal. Both tortas are delicacies of the capital, which often cause laughter or curiosity, as well as memes and videos on social media.

The bolillo is also used to make molletes, which, for some reason, are not on the menu of many Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles, and I can't understand why. Luckily, I've found some quite delicious molletes at Sed Cocina in Montclair. Except they put the cheese first before the beans. Often, molletes also include chorizo ​​or ham, but I prefer them simple with beans, cheese and pico de gallo.

The bolillos from Mexico City have an ideal crispy consistency for tortas that I haven't been able to find on this side of the Rio Grande, but I still haven't been to TortaMóvil. I hope to find a place that reminds me, even just a little, of the tortas from my hometown, with the beans delicately spread on the bolillo, the grilled ham or sausage, the avocado, the tomato, the onion and chipotle or jalapeños, depending on the day. I don't know if it's the flour or the preparation method, but the bolillos in Los Angeles are a little softer, which means the torta doesn't have the same texture when cooked. 

The bolillo is a simple bread, but it has a deep meaning for those who have learned to appreciate it. What a shame that Richard Hart, an English baker and owner of Green Rhino in the most gentrified area of ​​Mexico City, the Condesa neighborhood, didn't understand this, because I've been missing the perfect combination of ingredients that make the bolillo such a delight for years.

Hart has already apologized for his comment that Mexico lacks a bread culture, but insulting the bolillo is like insulting the very heart of the city where he came to offer his supposedly wonderful breads.