Mexico makes giant sandwich to kick off ‘Torta Fair’

MEXICO CITY – A line of Mexican chefs spread sauces, layered cheeses and stuffed in meats to assemble what they called the world’s biggest “torta” Wednesday.

Sandwich makers from across the country took less than three minutes to assemble the 236-foot (72-meter) creation in Mexico City, featuring a variety of fillings from ham to rib meat to seafood.

Exhibitions of Mexico’s signature sandwich will be on display all week at the 16th annual “Torta Fair” in the capital’s Venustiano Carranza district as thousands celebrate the Mexican classic.

Event organizers say they expect more than 300,000 attendees through Sunday. More than 100 sandwich venues from Mexico and seven other Spanish-speaking countries have stalls, including an Argentine grill and a Colombian arepa stand.

One of the common ingredients found in Mexico’s beloved sandwich is the avocado, which has seen its cost skyrocket in recent months. Prices have as reached as high as $5.20 a kilogram ($2.36 a pound) in the most expensive supermarkets.

Claudia Saavedra, who has set up her stand Cemitas Poblanas Marito for all 16 years of the “Torta Fest,” said she has been affected “a lot” by the avocado price surge.

“The avocado is crucial, every ingredient is crucial,” Saavedra said.

The “Torta Fest” boasts a diversity of exotic sandwiches from its vendors, including crocodile and ostrich. More traditional sandwich types include ham, chicken and fried steak. That type of variety in flavour makes the torta a Mexican icon, sandwich makers say.

“Here in Mexico, the torta reigns supreme more so than the hamburger,” Saavedra said.