Caroline Aghajanian: I have to finish it. There's a bakery in Los Angeles where you can find some of the tastiest tres leches cakes, sweet and savory pastries, and Cubanos. Customer: If you're from LA, you should know about Porto's. Customer: You have to get a whole cake. Don't get a slice, get a whole cake, 'cause if you get one slice
you're gonna have to come back and get another slice and another slice, so get a whole cake. Caroline: I'm an LA native. I actually grew up, like, two minutes away from this Glendale Porto's, so coming here is
something that's so normal and routine for me. But this place is more than just a neighborhood favorite. So let's go see what makes Porto's one of the most legendary
Cuban bakeries in LA. Porto's Bakery & Cafe was opened in Southern California in 1976 by a woman named Rosa Porto, a Cuban immigrant who started baking and selling cakes from her home. Today, there are five locations across Southern California. We got a glimpse inside the kitchen as the team preps their
classic Cuban sandwiches, a must-try here at Porto's. The team sells about
45,000 Cubanos a month across all locations. Beatriz Porto: If you haven't
had a Porto's Cuban sandwich, you don't know what a Cuban sandwich is supposed to taste like. Caroline: What's your favorite part about the Cubano sandwich? Customer: The pickles,
the mustard, the cheese, to meat, it's, like, slow roasted. Claudio Brusamolino: All
right, so this is our process on preparing the pork legs for roasting. As you can see, we wrap it in fresh garlic and extra virgin olive
oil, and it'll be all over. And then we have this dry rub, which is salt and black
pepper and brown sugar and dried oregano and
a little bit of cumin. So, once they get in
the oven, we roast them at a very, very, very low temperature overnight for about nine hours. So that way they, the meat that comes out is very moist, doesn't get too dry. You have to get ahead of time, get ahead of the game a little bit. So, we premake, like, 10, 20 at a time and then we'll press them as needed. So, we're gonna put a little bit, little layer of beautiful butter, and then we're gonna go with a lightly smoked ham. Next we're gonna put in some of the pork legs that I showed you before. We're gonna put a little
bit of Swiss cheese. Caroline: Swiss cheese and pickles? Claudio: And pickles. Caroline: Aah. Claudio: And then on the
top part of the bread, we're gonna put in a little bit of what we call Cuban dressing, which is mayonnaise, mustard, and a little bit of cilantro. Caroline: Wow. This sandwich is, like,
layers of perfection. I feel like every ingredient
has a specific purpose. And the bread makes it all perfect. It has, like, a crunch,
but it's also so soft that it doesn't, like,
scrape the top of your mouth. It's classic. It's simple. The perfect pairing to any Cubano, or really any sandwich at Porto's, are the plantain chips. The team goes through 80,000 pounds of fresh green plátanos every month. Once the slices are fried, they're lightly sprinkled
with garlic salt. [crunches] It's so garlicky. It's so good. If you're a garlic lover, the plantain chips are already coated with garlic salt, and with their sauce, it kinda just, like,
elevates it to another level. They're fantastic. And a visit to Porto's is never complete without an order of... Customer: Potato balls. Customer: Potato balls. Customer: Potato balls. Producer: Potato balls all day long. Beatriz: That's why people
drive miles and miles. To get those potato balls. Everywhere that I go, I do shows on it. "Where are the potato balls?" "Did you bring potato balls?" And we wanna introduce new items, but they don't care
about trying new items, but they want their potato balls. Claudio: So, this is a picadillo that goes inside potato
balls, or papas rellenas. It's ground beef with peppers and onions, lots of garlic, cumin, and a little bit of tomato sauce, a little bit of white wine. Then we let it simmer. And then this is the picadillo that we were just making
before, which is now cold. And then we just put it in the middle and fold the potatoes around it. And then it goes into egg wash and then into the bread crumbs. Caroline: The potato
balls are then deep-fried and ready to go. Ooh. OK, here's the thing. I always eat this really hot, and I feel like I have no patience and I end up burning my
mouth, but I don't care 'cause I keep eating
cause it's so delicious, but here we go again. I have to finish it. Customer: They're always warm, and they're always, like,
crispy on the outside and then soft on the inside. So, yeah. They just, like, remind
me of kind of, like, home comfort food. So, yeah, they're really good. Caroline: Over the
years, the team has built on Rosa's recipes, like her
classic tres leches cake. The best seller is the
Milk'N Berries cake, which consists of a sponge-cake base soaked with tres leches
and filled and topped with whipped cream and fresh berries. Beatriz: At the beginning
it was just tres leches with meringue on top, the original one. And then we gave it whipped
cream to make it less sweet for the people who liked the
sweet and the less sweet. Caroline: This is, like, the birthday cake we'd always order. It's so good. The fruits really do
cut into the sweetness. Producer: Personally, I've
had every single birthday cake since I was, like, 3
years old from Porto's. So they mean a lot to me. Beatriz: So, my mom started this business, really, out of necessity. Back in Cuba under communism,
horrible conditions because my dad was taken to a labor camp and she was, you know,
let go from her job. And so she did this in order to survive, because there was nothing
else she could do. When you applied to leave the country, you immediately became
the enemy of the state. So they didn't care
whether you live or not. And it took us eight years to get out. So for eight years, my mother was in charge
of keeping us alive. She was the head of the household. My dad, making $8 a
month away from the home, really couldn't support us. You know, necessity is what, many times, makes people do incredible things. Right? Caroline: Rosa Porto passed
away in December 2019, but the Porto family,
including Rosa's three kids, are carrying on the
Porto's Bakery tradition. Beatriz: The more people talk to you, the more you realize how many people she was able to reach and the legacy that she's left. Because how many immigrants
come to this country and in 40 years get to
be a household name? We're very happy that she
gets that kind of recognition, in her community that she did so much for. It's a good thing, for all of us We're very proud.
