The native population followed their own _cuisine_, and the visitor to Spanish-American homes naturally partook of native food. All the Mexican dishes that are common now, such as _tamales_, _enchiladas_ and _frijoles_, were favorite dishes then. There were many saloons in Sonora Town and elsewhere, and _mescal_ and _aguardiente_, popular drinks with the Mexicans, were also indulged in by the first white settlers. Although there were imported wines, the wine-drinkers generally patronized the local product. This was a very cheap article, costing about fifteen cents a gallon, and was usually supplied with meals, without extra charge. _Tamales_ in particular were very popular with the Californians, but it took some time for the incoming epicure to appreciate all that was claimed for them and other masterpieces of Mexican cooking.
The _tortilla_ was another favorite, being a generous-sized maize cake, round and rather thin, in the early preparation of which the grain was softened, cleaned and parboiled, after which it was rolled and crushed between two pieces of flat stone. Deft hands then worked the product into a pancake, which was placed, sometimes on a piece of stoneware, sometimes on a plate of iron, and baked, first on one side and then on the other. A part of the trick in _tortilla_-baking consisted in its delicate toasting; and when just the right degree of parching had been reached, the crisp, tasty _tortilla_ was ready to maintain its position even against more pretentious members of the pancake family.
_Pan de huevos_, or bread of eggs, was peddled around town on little trays by Mexican women and, when well-prepared, was very palatable. _Panocha_, a dark Mexican sugar made into cakes, was also vended by native women. _Pinole_ was brought in by Indians; and as far as I can remember, it could not have had a very exact meaning, since I have heard the term applied both to ground pinenuts and ground corn, and it may also have been used to mean other food prepared in the same manner. Be this as it may, the value to the Indian came from the fact that, when mixed with water, _pinole_ proved a cheap, but nutritious article of diet.
I have told of the old-fashioned, comfortable adobes, broad and liberal, whose halls, rooms, verandas and _patios_ bespoke at least comfort if not elaborateness. Among the old California families dwelling within these houses, there was much visiting and entertainment, and I often partook of this proverbial and princely hospitality. There was also much merry-making, the firing of crackers, bell-ringing and dancing the _fandango_, _jota_ and _cachucha_ marking their jolly and whole-souled _fiestas_. Only for the first few years after I came was the real _fandango_--so popular when Dana visited Los Angeles and first saw Don Juan Bandini execute the dance--witnessed here; little by little it went out of fashion, perhaps in part because of the skill required for its performance. Balls and hops, however, for a long time were carelessly called by that name. When the _fandango_ really was in vogue, Bandini, António Coronel, Andrés Pico, the Lugos and other native Californians were among its most noted exponents; they often hired a hall, gave a _fandango_ in which they did not hesitate to take the leading parts, and turned the whole proceeds over to some church or charity. On such occasions not merely the plain people (always so responsive to music and its accompanying pleasures) were the _fandangueros_, but the flower of our local society turned out _en masse_, adding to the affair a high degree of _éclat_. There was no end, too, of good things to eat and drink, which people managed somehow to pass around; and the enjoyment was not lessened by the fact that every such dance hall was crowded to the walls, and that the atmosphere, relieved by but a narrow door and window or two, was literally thick with both dust and smoke.