Enfrijoladas

City of Oaxaca and the Central Valleys, Oaxaca, Mexico — home cooking rooted in the valley communities where black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are a daily staple, with particular presence in and around the city itself and towns such as Zimatlán

A cornerstone of Oaxacan home cooking, enfrijoladas are corn tortillas bathed in a warm, seasoned black bean purée, then folded and topped with sliced white onion, crumbled fresh cheese, and flat-leaved parsley. Diana Kennedy's version in Oaxaca al Gusto strips the dish to its essentials, trusting the depth of a well-made bean purée — seasoned with lard or the fat of choice and often a charred chile or herb — to carry the meal. This is workaday food of the highest order: quick to assemble when the purée is ready, deeply satisfying, and rooted in the black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) that are central to Oaxacan cuisine. The optional garnish of chile de agua (Capsicum annuum, a fresh green chile specific to the Oaxacan valleys) with lime juice adds brightness and local character.

The purée is earthy, slightly smoky, and dense with the mineral depth that Oaxacan black beans carry after long, slow cooking — a flavour that no other common bean replicates. Where lard is used as the seasoning fat, the sauce acquires a rounded, savoury richness that keeps the dish from reading as austere. The crumbled fresh cheese (typically quesillo or queso fresco) and raw white onion cut through that density with sharpness and salt, and flat-leaved parsley adds a clean, grassy note that keeps the plate alive.