What are Sopes?
In the culinary world, the sope is a sort of cousin to the tortilla. Sopes are made with the same ingredients as tortillas. However, their size and thickness is much different. Sopes are smaller that tortillas in diameter. In fact, the are only about three inches (7.6 cm) across. Furthermore, they are significantly thicker than tortillas. Despite their difference in shape and scale, sopes are used in a manner that is quite similar to tortillas. Like tortillas, they can be filled with cheese, beans, avocado, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, chorizo, and chicken, to name a few of the most popular fillings.
Sopes are made from a dough known as masa. The dough is made into a little cake and then pressed or hand-crafted into a thick patty with raised edges. Once the sopes have been molded into the right shape, they are lightly fried on each side in a pan of either vegetable oil or lard. It is important, when cooking the sopes, to make sure that they retain their shape in the pan. The purpose of the raised edge on the top perimeter of the sopes is to keep the food on top from falling off, and any sauces from rolling down one’s chin.
Because of their shape, sopes are not used to encapsulate their fillings as tortillas are used to make burritos. Rather, the ingredients in a sope simply sit atop the base. Sopes are like Latin American open-faced sandwiches. In fact, prefabricated sope bases can be purchased at many Latin markets. In general, the most time consuming part of preparing sopes is making the dough, shaping them, and frying them.
Whether you purchase sopes at the market or fry them up at home, the most fun part about making this dish is deciding what to put on top. Many chefs begin by smearing the top of the sope with refried beans. From there, simply build up your dream meal. Chorizo, sour cream, and pico de gallo is a wonderful combination. Chicken, guacamole, lettuce, and cheese also make a delightful sope.
Because sopes are small, they are sometimes serves in batches of two or three. This allows you to have a number of different flavor combinations on one plate. For example, on a plate of three sopes, you could have chorizo, chicken, and vegetarian sopes. If you are new to Latin American food, you might want to start with a sampler of sopes in order to taste the many flavors that this wonderful cuisine has to offer.
Written by Diane Goettel
