Geneviéve Villamizar shares a family recipe

Branching Out

By Genevieve Villamizar

The scent of cumin hits an ancestral note for me; it frees the feels, right up there with sauteed onions or sizzling garlic: uniquely and pungently itself. Familiar and welcoming, yes, but otherworldly, too. In just a handful of homes do I smell it, that pervasive, bulk-food spice cabinet smell: cumin. It is the fragrance of family, of home and, to me, the fragrance of “you are welcome here.”

When we moved in with our Colombian dad, I was six, maybe seven years old. Everything about him (after four or five years apart) and our new home was exotic, intriguing and, at times, embarrassing. As a single dad with no experience, we endured a lot of weird food combos — tuna, Kraft singles, green olives, cheap bread. Oyster stew? Guava paste and queso blanco?

But ohhhh, his black beans.

They were special; they were on purpose. You had to plan ahead, soaking them overnight. This meant he was focused on us, thinking of us, cooking for us. The sight of that bowl, filled to the brim with shiny dark “pebbles” in a scrim of purplegray foam, stirred relief and joy: Dad was in a good mood! He was planning a dinner for us! Would he make arepas, too?

His recipe was basic. Soak overnight. Rinse. Large soup pot, fresh water. He’d dash the air above with cumin and adobo. Salt and pepper; onions, garlic. He’d sear and slice a rope of spicy sausage. Then came the yummy part: the beans simmering all day long. Tendrils of steam, densely layered aromas, teased my nose; made my tummy rumble and my mouth water. Decades onward, black beans and rice are still a cherished family meal.

Missing or needing “home” in my early 20s and on my own, I cooked the family black beans for comfort. By my 30s, they had become a go-to for potlucks and parties. Today, at 50, my family black beans are still gobbled with gusto. Never have I tasted black beans prepared by another as complexly delicious as mine.

Yes, I boast. And no; no recipe.

I cook them when the heart requests and no batch is ever the same. Each is unique to the season, to my fluctuating pantry or fridge and to whatever I have harvested out back or palmed around town.

It often starts around a chunk of protein: muscle, bone and bean give way, melding. Distinct terroirs become one. With a porcelain spoon (a burnt tongue can’t taste) I sample every few hours to learn more of the meat hunted, gifted or purchased. Mountain lion from Oak, javelina rump and feral boar from Martha. Elk, deer, even Jacober Brothers moo moos when they still grazed our watershed. Ground pork or bacon from Potter

Farms, water buffalo bred and raised by friends. Each animal has its own savory slant.

Simmering, simmering; meat, bean and bone surrender into succulence. The opposite is true of loose grind. High quality grind is not a mushy paste, but squiggly strands of “broken” meat: small morsels, chewy and juicy. Something to bite into. And encased sausage, mixed with its own array of seasons? Nom, nom!

Enjoying a beer? One for you, one for the crock. (Tequila works, too.) Frozen stock? Chuck it in. Dried porcini from the Lake Christine burn scar? Why not? Two squares of forgotten chocolate, 80%? Go for it, 100%. Cayenne for bite; marjoram to marry wild and domestic notes. Coriander, Worcestershire, tomatoes, poblanos… Any other leftovers?

My dad is an artist. He collects oddities from Nature and integrates them into expansive dioramas that he carves and paints in the magical realism born of his native Colombia. Watching him prepare black beans, among his many other life-long rituals, taught me about living and being. Growing, hunting, gathering, sourcing, harvesting, storing, planning, cooking, sharing, showing: each of these verbs — in fact, every and any verb — can be expressed artfully.

So I crumble silver-green leaves of culinary sage from a bundle tied in twine and dried last summer. I sprinkle thyme and last autumn’s breath from a pretty jar diverted from the recycle bin. I pull bay leaves from a plant I had ordered and grown in the old greenhouse, one leaf, two; don’t want a bitter edge. No measuring spoons; it’s all in the feel — but yes, add a carmine dune of smoked paprika; golden mesa of ground mustard seed. Celery seed, tiny with explosive flavor. Cardamom — just a smidge to see what it does?

Amusing to note that this is really just a huge pot of flora with a lil’ bit of fauna when you compare it to all the boxes, bags, bottles and jars on the grocery shelves… But these beans, here? So darn beautiful to assemble, to savor, to smell. And soon? To share and consume.

LETTERS

"Missing or needing 'home' in my early 20s and on my own, I cooked the family black beans for comfort."

Happy New Year

January has already come and gone. They say time flies and we are watching it happen.

Carbondale Homeless Assistance is still very active in our Community. Although “different,” 2021 still showed the need for our help. We are grateful to all of those who have contributed to our program. We could not exist without your donations. Those funds help us provide City Market cards, gas cards, gift cards, the shower program, emergency overnight accommodations, pet care and other miscellaneous items. The clothing and gear you donate to Ragged Mountain Sports also helps, as they in turn donate to Carbondale Homeless Assistance.

Please, please, please continue to donate. Send checks or gift cards (City Market, Dos Gringos, Subway, Peppino’s, White House Pizza) to Carbondale Homeless Assistance at 711 Main St, Carbondale. Or you can VENMO @ CarbondaleHomelessAssistance or direct deposit to Carbondale Homeless Assistance at any Alpine Bank.

Unhoused persons in our community are taking advantage of the daily hygiene program that we offer with shower passes at the Rec Center. Those in need have met the criteria and are given the opportunity to use the facility as needed. Even during restrictions imposed for health concerns, we were able to assist and provide showers.

During the extreme cold and other emergencies, we continue to assist with clothing and outerwear appropriate for the weather conditions. Our local motels, the Days Inn and Comfort Inn, assist us with discounted accommodations whenever possible. We are very grateful to Michael Miernicki at Days Inn and Emily Ravn at Comfort Inn for their personal involvement with our program.

It is with heartfelt gratitude that we thank you for your continued support.

Here’s to a healthy and happy 2022.

Lynn Kirchner

Carbondale

Heat pumps

Thanks to The Sopris Sun for highlighting heat pumps for electric heating in some new buildings in the Roaring Fork Valley (Jan. 27 issue). Gas heat is a major source of climatedisrupting emissions here. Compared to burning gas (plus upstream leaking and venting), heat pumps greatly reduce global warming emissions. This advantage gets better as more solar, and particularly wind, is installed on our electricity supply. While it’s kind of sad that Holy Cross Energy issued only 20 heat pump rebates last year, this conversion is just getting started here.

This is not just a Roaring Fork Valley thing. Other regions and countries are pulling ahead. In the Netherlands last year, in areas where gas is available, 90% of all new buildings installed electric heating instead. They have plans for two million heat pumps in a decade in their little country. Europe is installing more “natural refrigerant” heat pumps, too. I spent a month in Vermont last year, and outdoor units for heat pumps were popping up on many older buildings. We need heating conversion programs which result in much higher participation. A few entities seem to be having success with centralized contracting for multiple energy retrofits using leasing models, and there are probably other approaches. This is instead of trying to pile greater rebates and credits on the current model of custom assessments and applications, bespoke financing, and multiple contractors bidding on each home or business. A traditional conservative question is, “Why can’t we let ‘the market’ do this?” It might, if we added the emissions damage from fossil fuels to gas rates. At the low-end compromise rate of $75/ton of damage from CO2 emissions (plus 70% or so to account for 2.5% methane venting and leaking), retail heating gas rates would nearly double from this winter’s relatively high level. More recent estimates of this form of deficit spending are $200/ton for current and future Continued on page 19 The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect those of The Sopris Sun. The community is invited to submit letters up to 500 words to news@soprissun.com. Longer columns are considered on a case-by-case basis. The deadline for submission is noon on Monday. Editor Raleigh Burleigh 970-510-3003 • news@soprissun.com

Executive Director Todd Chamberlin 970-510-0246 • adsales@soprissun.com

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