Fried Bean Purée

Indians begin with sun-dried beans, which they spread on stretched canvas until the beans dry to the color of dark bricks. Tony Garcia remembers the way his mother made beans, with a big cut-up onion and meat bones and sometimes fried bacon and garlic and more onions—“Oh, so very very good.” When beans are cooked good to begin with, they can’t fail to be very very good when recooked, especially when turned into a purée smoothed with lard. Frijoles refritos<