Spanish Settlers Brought Other Products from Distant Parts to California
Monday, September 3rd, 2007
Spanish Settlers Brought Other Products from Distant Parts to California from the Old World- corn, wheat , squash , beans , chick peas ( garbanzos) , numerous varieties of chili peppers , tomatoes , fruits , vegetables , grapes , olives , figs , oranges , chocolate , cattle ,sheep , goats and hogs.
Life in the Spanish Missions depended on planting and harvesting. With corn came nixtamal, mesa and tortillas. Two kinds of tortillas – corn and flour were used as “staple bread” or edible wrapper for many foods. Inside the missions, food consisted mainly of grain, fruits and vegetables.
In the towns and on the rancheros, beef was added to the fare.
Indians of California , before the coming of the Spaniard , subsisted on whatever wild grains , seeds m berries , fruits , greens , roots and bulbs they could gather, and the wild game . Birds, shellfish and insects that these California Aboriginals could capture. We call the California Indians the acorn culture because their dependency on acorns from native oaks as a staple food. In order to make acorns palatable, it was necessary to leach the nuts of their tannic acid. This was done by running water through ground acorn meal. Leached meal was then made into a kind of mash or gruel and eaten with the hands.
Often grains and other foodstuffs were included with in the mush or meat was added to make a stew. Rabbits, deer and quail as well as pheasants were abundant were abundant in the California wilds and outback. Clams and abalone were to be easily had for taking along the California coastline, and of course fish were to be found everywhere along streams and in the Pacific Ocean.
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