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 of how we saw this done one night in the midst of a dense tropical
forest, while muleteers and mozas of a great caravan sat around their
little campfires, whose fitful light served to intensify the weird
appearance of the shadows of the Indians as they passed to and fro among