Most fans of the Cuban cuisine that South Florida’s restaurants serve know the staple of rice cooked with black beans— and onions, garlic, cumin, and herbs as moros y cristianos [Moors and Christians]. Apparently established when Cuban exile cooks from eastern Cuba launched the dish in the early 1960s, the label has stuck. Yet in the western half of the island, black (or red) beans cooked with rice is strictly called congrí. At my Uncle Tiki’s house, his wife Jorgelina was a stickler for the term congrí (she said “Moors and Christians” sounded religiously insensitive) as well as for the use of the proper kind of pepper: ají cachucha, a strangely fruity, non-spicy native chile that, in its absence, Miami cooks have been compelled to substitute with green bell pepper. Despite Congrí’s caloric heft, Jorgelina always made a huge amount and never failed to pair it with a platter of the equally hefty, boiled yuca [manioc]. Fresh from the garden, soft as butter, and covered in pan-toasted garlic, caramelized onions, and lime, it was just as irresistible! Puerta de Golpe, 1999.
