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From Oaxaca's Sierra Norte, triangular masa pockets folded around a paste of black beans and toasted avocado leaf, cooked on a dry comal until the edges blister and the masa smells like rain on a milpa.
This is an Oaxacan dish. Sierra Norte, specifically, where the mist hangs in the mountains and the black beans grow at altitude and the women fold tetelas the way their grandmothers folded them: by feel, not by measurement.
A tetela is a triangle of fresh masa pressed thin, spread with a paste of black beans seasoned with avocado leaf, and folded into thirds on a dry comal. That's it. Three ingredients if you don't count the salt. Four if you add the lard. The simplicity is the point. This is not a dish that hides behind complexity. It stands on the quality of its corn, the earthiness of its beans, and the anise-like warmth of the hoja de aguacate toasted until it crumbles between your fingers.
I learned tetelas from a senora in Ixtlan de Juarez who made them every morning for her family. She didn't measure the masa. She pinched off a ball, pressed it flat in her palms, spread the bean paste with the back of a spoon, and folded the triangle in three movements so fast I had to ask her to slow down. She laughed and said her mother never slowed down either. The filling was black beans cooked with an avocado leaf and mashed with a wooden spoon until they were almost smooth, not refried, just mashed. She told me: "Las tetelas no esperan." Tetelas don't wait. You eat them off the comal.
My mother didn't make tetelas. She was Jalisciense. But she had a note in her notebook, one line: "Oaxaca triangles, frijol negro, hoja de aguacate." No recipe. Just the memory of having eaten one. I filled in the rest from the Sierra Norte. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Tetelas are among the oldest antojitos in Mesoamerican cooking, predating the Spanish conquest as a portable field food carried by farmers and travelers in the mountainous regions of what is now Oaxaca. The triangular fold is thought to represent the three stones of the traditional cooking hearth, the tlecuil, though this interpretation varies among communities. The use of hoja de aguacate (avocado leaf) as a seasoning is distinctly Oaxacan and dates to pre-Columbian cultivation of native criollo avocado trees in the Sierra Norte and Mixteca, whose leaves carry a strong anise-like essential oil absent from the Hass variety now dominant in commercial agriculture.
Quantity
1 pound
or 2 cups masa harina mixed with 1 1/4 cups warm water
Quantity
2 tablespoons
softened
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
with about 1/4 cup of their cooking liquid
Quantity
3
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1
peeled
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
crumbled
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh masa for tortillasor 2 cups masa harina mixed with 1 1/4 cups warm water | 1 pound |
| lard (manteca de cerdo) for the masasoftened | 2 tablespoons |
| kosher salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| cooked black beans (frijol negro)with about 1/4 cup of their cooking liquid | 1 1/2 cups |
| dried avocado leaves (hoja de aguacate criolla) | 3 |
| lard (manteca de cerdo) for the beans | 1 tablespoon |
| garlic clovepeeled | 1 |
| salt | to taste |
| salsa de pasilla oaxaqueno (optional) | for serving |
| queso fresco Oaxaqueno (optional)crumbled | for serving |
Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium. Lay the dried avocado leaves flat on the surface and toast them for about 15 seconds per side, pressing gently with your fingers. They will darken slightly and release a warm, anise-like fragrance that fills the kitchen. This smell is the signature of Oaxacan bean cooking. Once toasted, crumble two of the leaves into small pieces and set aside. Reserve the third leaf whole.
Melt one tablespoon of lard in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic clove and fry it until golden on both sides, about two minutes. Remove and discard the garlic. Add the cooked black beans with their liquid and the crumbled avocado leaf. Mash the beans with a wooden spoon or a bean masher, pressing firmly against the bottom of the skillet. Cook, stirring and mashing, for about eight minutes, until the paste pulls away from the pan in a thick, spreadable mass. It should hold its shape on a spoon. Season with salt. Set aside to cool slightly.
If using fresh masa, place it in a large bowl and knead in the softened lard and salt until the dough is smooth and pliable, about three minutes. It should feel like soft clay and not crack when you press a ball flat. If using masa harina, mix it with the warm water first, let it rest five minutes, then knead in the lard and salt. The lard is not optional. It keeps the masa from drying out on the comal and gives it that faint richness that separates a tetela from a plain tortilla. La manteca es el sabor.
Pinch off a ball of masa about the size of a golf ball. Place it between two sheets of plastic (a cut-open zip-lock bag works) and press it into a round disc about five inches across and a little thicker than a tortilla. Remove the top plastic. Spread about two tablespoons of the bean paste across the center of the disc, leaving a half-inch border. Now fold the disc into a triangle: bring the bottom edge up to the center, then fold the right side in, then the left side over the top. You are making three folds that create a roughly equilateral triangle with the bean paste sealed inside. Press the edges gently to seal. The first few will be clumsy. By the fifth one your hands will know what to do.
Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Lay the tetelas on the hot surface, seam side down first. Cook for three to four minutes until the underside develops dark toasted spots and the masa is set. Flip carefully and cook the other side for another three minutes. The corners may puff slightly where the trapped air expands. That is how you know the heat is right. The surface should be dry and lightly charred in spots, with a faint smell of toasted corn and avocado leaf coming off the comal.
Serve the tetelas the moment they come off the comal. Stack them on a clay plate or in a servilleta-lined basket. Offer salsa de pasilla oaxaqueno on the side and crumbled queso fresco over the top if you like. They are best eaten within minutes. The masa stiffens as it cools and the charm of a tetela is that first bite when the warm bean paste meets the toasted corn. Las tetelas no esperan. Asi se hace y punto.
1 serving (about 175g)
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