Chiapas Refried Black Beans (Frijoles Refritos Chiapanecos)

Chiapas, from Los Altos around San Cristobal de las Casas down toward Chiapa de Corzo, keeps black beans close to the center of the table. These are the beans beside cochito horneado, beside thick hand-pressed tortillas, beside a bowl of chile amashito for the person who wants bite. The dish is daily food, but daily does not mean careless.

The bean is black. The herb is epazote. The fat is manteca de cerdo. That is the architecture. In the Mercado Jose Castillo Tielemans, I watched women judge cooked beans by how the broth clung to the spoon before they ever thought about refrying them. If the bean broth is thin, the refrito will be weak. If the lard is stingy, the beans will look tired. No me vengas con atajos.

My mother was from Jalisco, so her beans leaned another direction. In Chiapas, the black bean rules, and the women who perfected this did it by cooking the same pot all week: frijoles de olla on Monday, refritos on Tuesday, tucked into tortillas the next morning. Saber cocinar es saber vivir. You learn economy by paying attention to the pot.