Refried Beans: Frijoles Refritos

The term "refried beans" is used in English for a common Mexican cooked bean dish (see "Word History," below), although in modern times, the beans and other ingredients are most often simply cooked in water, and only sometimes are the beans cooked and then fried with other ingredients. "Refried beans" is also a dish common in other Latino cultures, including in heavily Latino influenced Texas and in all of the American Southwest, stretching to California. You can buy dried beans and then soak them for several hours, rinse them and then cook them for awhile, before proceeding with the recipe, but to be quite honest, it is far easier to buy cans of beans, rinse them and go from there. To be clear, you open the cans of beans and then rinse the beans. It took me some time to figure that out, because I bought cans of beans and I was told to "rinse them," and so I did; I rinsed the cans, but when I opened cans, the damned beans still had all that yucky liquid on them.   

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon regular olive oil
2 cans (14.5 to 16 ounce each) pinto beans, or red kidney beans, rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
good pinch of ancho chili powder
good pinch of salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Heat the oil in a pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about a minute, then add the garlic. Stir in the cumin, ancho chili powder and salt. Add 1/4 cup water and the beans, mix well. When the beans are well heated, use a masher to mash the beans. If the mixture is too thick, add more water, mixed in a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the consistency you desire. I don't mash every bean, as a few whole beans gives the mixture a nice texture.   

WORD HISTORY:
Refried-This word is partially a bad translation of Spanish "refritos," which is used in "frijoles refritos;" translated into English as "refried beans." The second part of the word is, of course, closely related to "fry," a word of Latin derivation, borrowed by English. ^ The "re-" prefix, often denoting, "to repeat, to redo, to do over again," also is used in some Latin derived words to add emphasis, rather than adding a more specific or detailed meaning; thus, in this case, it is more aptly translated as, "thoroughly (fried)," "completely (fried)," or, "well (fried)." Initially, the beans of the dish were likely always "fried," although the ancestor of "fry" once was a broader cooking term that also meant, "to roast." As time passed, even though many people no longer "fried" the beans, the term was too fixed in Mexican culture, and it remained, even when frying was not the method used to cook the beans.

^ For the history of the word "fry," and the base of the word "refried," here is the link to the article with the "Word History:"  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/12/mexican-egg-sandwich-torta.html