Rice and Beans

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a yellow bowl full of rice and beans
CC 2.0 Photo from Flickr

I think every culture has its own variation of rice and beans. My Guatemalan friend calls it gallo pinto, my Jamaican friend says rice and peas, to me it's arroz con frijoles. Never would I think rice and beans could have much ritual meaning. I didn't really even like rice much growing up because Mexican rice is very tomato-based, and you fry it before cooking, so it's not as fluffy as other types of rice dishes. Beans, on the other hand, were a staple of my childhood. It was my favorite food ever. Frijoles de la olla, refried beans, beans into a sauce to be poured over a quesadilla (my family calls this an enfrijolada), and literally every other version of beans is so good. 

I thought the simplicity of the dish meant that it wasn't special. It wouldn't hold any other significance than being comfort food, that it's easy to make. It's the first type of food I've learned to make.

In the very, very beginning of the second chapter of Religion in the Kitchen, rice and beans make their appearance. Perez introduces their kitchen work with the foods they're cooking, followed up immediately with this quote: "'The orishas are not hung up on perfection'" (Religion in the Kitchen, 53). It's a very beautiful way to look at a practice, this idea that perfection isn't necessary in order to be a good practitioner. Rice and beans aren't something really to compare this to, but I think the fact that the orishas eat rice and beans too is important. It's not just a simple dish because it holds more meaning than that. It's comforting, it's good, and it's something that unites people across cultures. Simplicity doesn't mean that it's not suitable for religious consumption of any sort. 

What makes food really worthwhile is the process, the emotions, the care put into it. The best meals are made by our families. My cooking will never be as nice as the food my grandmother makes, nor as nice as my mom's, but someday maybe someone will say that same thing about what I make. Ochun, I believe, is flexible, she makes do with what she can. Nothing really, then, besides what is outlined in the list of what literally can't be fed to the gods, is off-limits, no matter how simple the meal. 

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