DISH RESEARCH · Dish
Torta Frita
Uruguayan flat fried bread made with pork fat and optionally dusted with sugar.
About Torta Frita
Torta frita is a round Uruguayan fried bread closely associated with rainy afternoons. This profile follows the pork-fat option in the recipe published by Uruguayan newspaper El País, keeping its sugar dusting optional.
Pork fat gives the wheat dough a savoury richness and crisp fried flavour, while egg adds body and baking powder lightens the centre. Salt keeps the base gently savoury; optional sugar changes the finish from plain and toasty to lightly sweet.
Each torta is a flat, irregular golden disc, often with a small centre opening or slit that helps it fry evenly. The exterior is blistered and crisp, while the interior stays thin, tender and slightly chewy rather than cakey.
Allergens in this recipe
Contains: Wheat (gluten), Egg.
Other allergen details are unconfirmed.
Ingredients vary by restaurant. Confirm your allergens with staff before ordering.
Ingredients in Torta Frita
El País's Uruguayan Pork-Fat Torta Frita.
- Wheat flourFlatbread structure
- Baking powderChemical lift
- SaltSeasoning
- Pork fatDough shortening and frying fat
- EggBinding and body
- Cold waterDough hydration
- SugarOptional sweet dusting · Optional
Ingredient details & uncertainties
Allergen information is incomplete. Unconfirmed details do not establish that an allergen is absent.
- Wheat flour: . The source's flour maps to the established wheat-flour route
- Baking powder:
- Salt:
- Pork fat: . The source offers pork fat or butter; this fixed version selects pork fat and maps it to the established lard route
- Egg:
- Cold water: . The source's cold water maps to the established broader water route
- Sugar (optional):
Origins & food traditions
Uruguayan newspaper El País supplies the complete recipe selected here and identifies tortas fritas as a typical Uruguayan rainy-day dish. Uruguay's Ministry of Tourism independently corroborates the rainy-day custom and the characteristic flour, fat, warm-water and salt foundation kneaded and fried.
Cuisines & regions
- Uruguayan Cuisine
- Argentine CuisineCatalogue link pending review
- Uruguayan CuisineCatalogue link pending review