Issue #79: Cuban Black Beans
Dispatch from Florida, A Bakery in Miami, Potaje de Frijoles Negros
I’ve been in Florida for almost two weeks, first for our Miami Art Week Aerobanquets RMX popup and now for a Taoist Tai Chi retreat in Dunedin. It feels like two years. The warm, sunny days have made me forget it’s December. There have been a few culinary highlights, namely, stone crab claws and Cuban food.
The current episode of my What’s Burning podcast features photographer Clay Williams, who is masterful at capturing the vibe of the kitchens and restaurants where he works. Clay is also co-founder of the Black Food Folks network with my former James Beard Foundation colleague Colleen Vincent. It’s a great listen. Thanks, as always, for your support. —Mitchell
For several days last week we drove past Miami Bakery on the way from our Airbnb to the immersive art museum Superblue Miami, where we were operating our Aerobanquets RMX pop-up during Miami Art Week. The iconic American roadside architecture, the picnic tables, an incongruous three-dimensional camel on the old sign gave the bakery a genuine air that intrigued me.
Nate believes I have an uncanny ability to sniff out food places worth checking out. I can’t quite explain why sometimes I just get a feeling. Often, it’s a sense that they aren’t trying to impress or attract a crowd different from their local clientele. For example, near our apartment in Manhattan, far from Chinatown, there is an Asian noodle shop called Burp Bowl that I always wondered about because of their strange name and a big sign in the window announcing “Mutton Noodles.” No one who was trying to attract the general public walking around Gramercy would ever call themselves “Burb Bowl” or advertise mutton noodles to get people through the door. And it turned out, in fact, the shop serves a very respectable bowl of noodles.
Back in sunny Miami, I had a good feeling about Miami Bakery. But after 18 hour days at the popup, late nights and early mornings, there just wasn’t time to stop.
One morning, about 2/3 of the way through the week, we finally had enough breathing room to stop for breakfast. What we found was really two food businesses in one: a Cuban takeout joint complete with steam tables full of roasted and braised meats and different colored rices and beans, and an adjacent bakery. While one of our team ordered roasted ribs, Cubano sandwiches, café con leche, and papaya and mango batidos from the savory-food counter, I went inside to choose a selection of cakes and pastries. We had a good breakfast. The très leches, flan, and guava-cheese pastellas were good. But the roasted ribs, braised chicken, cuban sandwiches, white rice, and black beans stood out—so much so that a few hours later we went back for lunch.
I love Cuban black beans. Somewhere between a soup and a side dish, their creamy texture and complex flavor afford both comfort and satiety, especially when spooned over steamed white rice
As with any common, traditional dish (see last week’s Butter Chicken debate), there are many points of view about what should go into a pot of Cuban black beans. Some say they should be vegetarian, others insist on pork. There are debates about whether that pork should be salt-cured or smoked. Some insist on a sofrito (sautéed onions, garlic and peppers) at the beginning, and some add it at the end. Still others add it at both the beginning and the end. There is a school that insists one add tomatoes to the sofrito, while others consider tomatoes sacrilege. I’ve seen a few recipes that tell you to add an orange to the pot.
What’s for sure is the texture of the beans is supposed to be soft and creamy. Forget any notion of al dente. Many cooks smash some of the cooked beans on the side of the pot with a fork to thicken the liquid, while others treat the liquid as a broth, serving it on its own like a soup. (I cannot help but think of Tamar Adler and her book An Everlasting Meal, in which she confesses to liking bean cooking water so much she has seasoned it and served it to guests.)
This is my current go-to recipe for a potaje de frijoles negros, that is, Cuban black beans, adapted from one I published years ago in my Kitchen Sense cookbook. Nate is not a bean lover, so I usually make a small batch of beans for myself and eat it all week long. A Cuban family would consider the proportions of this recipe a snack, so feel free to double it. Serve it as a soup, as beans on rice, or both.
RECIPE: Cuban Black Beans
(Makes 4 to 6 servings)
1/2 pound (1 cup) dried black turtle beans
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 medium (6-ounce) white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 to 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, or 1/4 teaspoon or more cayenne pepper, depending on your appreciation of spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
2 ounces salt pork, pancetta, country ham or other cured pork product
1 bay leaf
Juice of 1/2 lime or orange
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Place the beans in a large bowl, cover with 3 inches of cold water, and let soak 8 to 12 hours or overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse the beans. In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, green pepper, and jalapeño and sauté until the peppers are soft. Stir in the cumin, oregano, and mustard powder (also the cayenne, here, if using) and cook for a minute more. Remove half this sofrito and set aside.
Add the soaked, rinsed beans to the saucepan with the sofrito left behind. Add 5 cups cold water and the salt pork, pancetta, or other pork product, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover loosely, and let simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the beans are tender. Stir in the reserved sofrito along with the lime or orange juice, and salt. For thicker beans, use a fork to smash some beans on the side of pot. (You can also whir for a few seconds with an immersion blender or purée some beans in a food processor or blender.) Continue cooking another 15 or 20 minutes until the flavors blend and the beans are creamy. Remove the salt pork, if you wish. Serve with rice.
Scrumptious from afar...