The trick to good congrí is cooking the black beans first with garlic, cumin, bay leaves and a splash of oil, then adding the rice and letting it all simmer together until every grain of rice has absorbed the dark, savoury bean liquid. The result is not just rice and beans mixed in a bowl - it is something more unified and deeply flavoured, with each component soaking up the taste of the other.
Black beans are a nutritional powerhouse - full of protein, fibre and minerals. In Cuba, where families have often had to cook creatively with simple ingredients, black beans and rice together create a complete, balanced meal. This combination of grains and legumes has been a foundation of cooking in many cultures around the world, from Latin America to Africa to Asia.
Congrí is found on almost every Cuban table, whether in a home kitchen, a roadside snack bar or a celebration feast. It pairs with almost everything - ropa vieja, fried pork, roast chicken or simply on its own with a ripe banana or some fried tostones. Cubans eat it so often that many say the smell of congrí cooking is the smell of home.