At first, this recipe was made with ordinary red beans, but as many more variations of beans appeared, the most popular was Cuban beans, as they were the favorite among people. It is commonly served with tomato sauce, mayonnaise, and also with avocado, guacamole, and hot chili.
The creator, Miguel Ángel Cordero, patented this recipe. He was the owner of a bar and restaurant called “Cordero’s 1” and Cordero’s 2, located in Tibás and Guadalupe.
According to an interview, Cordero has been in the bar and restaurant industry for 30 years, when he opened Cordero’s bar in Tibás, 300 meters east of Pali de Colima. This was the place where Cordero invented the chifrijo.
On the day he invented the chifrijo, Cordero arrived at the venue wanting to try something different, something innovative and with a flavor that hadn't been tried before. That’s why he went into the kitchen and asked Odalia, the cook at the time, what they had to “snack on” and immediately entered the kitchen. It was then that the idea of preparing a dish with tender beans, pork crackling, chili, chimichurri, and loving the flavor came to his mind, and Odalia even tasted it.
Both Odalia and Mr. Cordero thought that the most logical thing was for a customer to try it and give their opinion. Thus, Manuel Antonio Rodríguez gave this dish the name 'chifrijo.'
