“El chavo del 8″: how to prepare the famous ham cake

TO “The guy from 8″ we can attribute several things to it. From iconic phrases like “but they don’t have patience for me”, to comic moments that have marked more than one generation. Roberto Gómez Bolaños’s series tells us about the life of Chavo, an orphan boy who lived in a neighborhood (or farm). One of the most remembered tastes of the character were ham cakes and here we show you how to prepare them.

Episode by episode, the adventures of this endearing character and his friends such as Chilindrina, Quico, Ñoño and Popis were narrated. One of Chavo’s biggest cravings was ham cakes, even this snack gave its name to one of the episodes of the series.

Chavo del 8’s version of his favorite torta consisted of a round loaf (preferably) stuffed with English ham (or pizza), tomato (or jitomate, as they call it in Mexico) and, occasionally, lettuce.

The bread they use is usually known as a bolillo, but it is also served in a baguette. They can be accompanied with mayonnaise, milk cream, avocado or different types of peppers (known as chiles in Mexico).

Although the name refers to a dessert in countries like ours, in Mexico it is known as torta to a sandwich. The most classic version is stuffed with ham, just as the Chavo del 8.

Tortas are a street snack that can be served hot or cold and filled with different ingredients. Some options include beans with cheese, the drowned version, tamale, among others.

Throughout different episodes, Roberto Gómez Bolaños introduced us to what the main character of this series was like, an orphan boy who lived in the neighborhood. Without a doubt, one of his characteristics was the great appetite he had, especially if it was a “ham cake”.

Likewise, “Chavito” and his friends enjoyed aguas frescas, refreshing drinks based on ingredients such as hibiscus flower, lemon or tamarind.

It should be noted that the word torta has two meanings: in Mexico it is known as a sandwichwhile in other countries such as Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador, a cake is considered to be a cake or sweet cake.

Other words that are used to refer to the cake, based on the first meaning, are bala fría (Venezuela), sánguche (Peru) and bocadillo (Spain).