Corn Tortillas with Refried Black Beans
The absolute base of Lenca diet: nixtamalized corn cakes cooked on a griddle, served piping hot with a mash of black beans fried in a little fat. You roll, you dip, you share.
The absolute base of Lenca diet: nixtamalized corn cakes cooked on a griddle, served piping hot with a mash of black beans fried in a little fat. You roll, you dip, you share.
Mira, compañero, don't go looking for anything more complicated: here everything starts with corn. At home we cook the grain with a little lime the night before, grind it, and at dawn my mother and I pat the masa between our hands until it sings on the comal. The beans, we leave them at the bottom of the pot with an onion and mash them with a wooden spoon. When I say that maíz is sacred, it's not poetry: it's our freedom they want to drown under their dams, and I won't let them.
- •Ground nixtamalized corn (masa) — two large handfuls per person (tortilla dough)
- •Dried black beans — one bowl (protein base)
- •Onion and garlic — from the garden (aromatics)
- •Lard or cooking fat — one spoonful (frying the beans)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Corn Tortillas with Refried Black Beans
The absolute base of Lenca diet: nixtamalized corn cakes cooked on a griddle, served piping hot with a mash of black beans fried in a little fat. You roll, you dip, you share.
Why this dish? This was the everyday fare in Berta's home in La Esperanza and in the villages of Intibucá: the tortilla flipped on the comal while talking about organizing, the beans simmering at the bottom of the pot. The humblest dish in Honduras, and the one she defended as a treasure.
Mira, compañero, don't go looking for anything more complicated: here everything starts with corn. At home we cook the grain with a little lime the night before, grind it, and at dawn my mother and I pat the masa between our hands until it sings on the comal. The beans, we leave them at the bottom of the pot with an onion and mash them with a wooden spoon. When I say that maíz is sacred, it's not poetry: it's our freedom they want to drown under their dams, and I won't let them.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ground nixtamalized corn (masa) — two large handfuls per person (tortilla dough)
- Dried black beans — one bowl (protein base)
- Onion and garlic — from the garden (aromatics)
- Lard or cooking fat — one spoonful (frying the beans)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour, e.g., Maseca) — 250 g (tortilla dough)
- Warm water — about 160 ml (hydrating the masa)
- Cooked black beans (canned, drained) — 400 g (frijoles puree)
- Onion — 1/2, sliced (aromatic)
- Neutral oil — 2 tbsp (frying the beans)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Mix masa harina, salt, and warm water until you get a soft dough that doesn't stick (adjust water). Cover and let rest 10 min.
- Form golf-ball-sized balls and flatten between two sheets of parchment paper (or with a press) into 12 cm disks.
- Cook each tortilla 1 min per side on a very hot dry skillet/griddle, until it puffs and gets brown spots.
- For the beans: fry the onion in oil, add drained beans, salt, mash roughly with a potato masher, and let thicken 5 min.
- Serve the tortillas stacked under a cloth, next to the bowl of frijoles. Fill and roll at the table.
How it was made : Before the village electric mill, the masa was prepared by hand on the metate, a grinding stone inherited from Mesoamerican civilizations. Nixtamalization—cooking corn in lime water—is a knowledge over 3,000 years old that makes corn nutritious; without it, a corn-based diet causes pellagra.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of crumbled queso fresco and a few drops of fresh salsa on the folded tortilla: the peasant baleada in express version.
Berta Cáceres · Charactorium