Ticondichi

Yolomécatl, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico

Ticondichi is a deeply regional bean preparation from Yolomécatl in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, documented by Diana Kennedy in Oaxaca al Gusto. Black beans are simmered together with dried bean pods — the local frijol andador — until the broth becomes rich and thick. Into that same pot go egg-shaped masa balls, mixed with pork lard and ground toasted avocado leaves, each hollowed with a thumb so they cook through evenly in the broth. The table sauce is strictly a dry-ground affair: toasted costeño chiles crumbled in a molcajete, then garlic and broiled tomates verdes worked in to a rough, textured paste. The dish arrives as a composed bowl — beans, broth, masa dumplings, and sauce — representing the kind of subsistence cooking that has sustained Mixtec communities for generations and that rarely travels beyond its village of origin.

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