The Elegant Art of Dining: Bohemian San Francisco, Its ... - iMedia

Impress of Mexico
Running through all the fabric of San Francisco’s history is the thread of
Mexican and Spanish romance and tradition, carrying us back to the very days
when the trooper sent out by Portola first set eyes on the great inland sea now
known as San Francisco Bay. It would seem that the cuisinaire most indelibly
stamped on the taste of the old San Franciscan would, therefore, be of either
Spanish or Mexican origin. That this is not a fact is because among the earliest
corners to California after it passed from Mexican hands to those of the United
States, were French and Italian cooks, and the bon vivants of both lands who
wanted their own style of cooking. While the Spanish did not impress their
cooking on San Francisco, it is the cuisine of the Latin races that has given to
it its greatest gastronomic prestige, and there still remains from those very early
days recipes of the famous dishes which had their beginnings either in Spain or
Mexico.
There is much misconception regarding both Spanish and Mexican cooking, for
it is generally accepted as a fact that all Mexican and Spanish dishes are so filled
with red pepper as to be unpalatable to the normal stomach of those trained
to what is called “plain American cooking.” Certain dishes of Mexican and
Spanish origin owe their fine flavor to discriminating use of chili caliente or chili
dulce, but many of the best dishes are entirely innocent of either. The difference
between Spanish and Mexican cooking is largely a matter of sentiment. It is a
peculiarity of the Spaniard that he does not wish to be classed as a Mexican,
and on the other hand the Mexican is angry if he be called a Spaniard. But
the fact remains that their cooking is much alike, so much so, in fact, as to be
indistinguishable except by different names for similar dishes, and frequently
these are the same.
The two famous and world-known dishes of this class of cooking are tortillas
and tamales. It is generally supposed that both of these are the product of
Mexico, but this is not the case. The tamale had its origin in Spain and was
carried to Mexico by the conquistadors, and taken up as a national dish by the
natives after many years. The tortilla, on the other hand, is made now exactly
as it was made by the Mexican Indian when the Spanish found the country.
The aborigine prepared his corn on a stone metate and made it into cakes by
patting it with the hand, then cooked it on a hot stone before an open fire. It
is still made in that manner in the heart of Mexico, and we could tell a story
22