Líriv Metadí or Valley Succotash
Wash about two cups of small red beans (the Valley metadí is very like the Mexican frijole), and cook till done (a couple of hours) with half an onion, three or four garlic cloves, and a bay leaf.
Simmer about a cup and a half of parched corn until thoroughly cooked, and drain (or in season use fresh corn cut off the cob, uncooked).
Simmer a handful of dried black mushrooms for half an hour or so, and keep them in their cooking broth.
When all these ingredients are done combine them, along with:
the juice and pulp of a lemon, or some preserved tamarind pulp an onion chopped and fried in oil with some finely chopped garlic and a spoonful of cumin seeds
a large, mild green chile of the chile verde type, or a small, hot green chile (but not bell pepper), seeded and chopped fine
three or four tomatoes peeled and chopped coarsely
add, as seasoning, oregano, winter savory, and more lemon to taste
add dried red chile if you want it hot
To thicken the sauce, one dried tomato-paste ball was added; our equivalent would be two or three tablespoons of thick tomato paste. (If fresh tomatoes are not in season, double or triple the quantity of tomato paste.)
All this simmers for about an hour.
Serve with chopped raw onion to garnish, and a sour sauce or chutney made of green tomatoes or tomatillos, flavored with fresh or dry coriander leaf.
This dish, “too heavy for rice,” was accompanied by cornbreads, either of the hoe cake or the tortilla type.
From Ursula Le Guin’s 1985 novel Always Coming Home.
Biblioklept 