Be Our Guest!

Interpretation of Mission Concepcion and its acequia. Illustration by Eva Vazquez.

Corn (maize) was an important part of indigenous people's diets in the Americas, but the Spanish who colonized the area preferred wheat to corn. The Mission San José grist mill, powered by acequias (irrigation ditches), was built in 1794 to grind wheat using water from the San Antonio River.

Recipes used today in San Antonio are made with ingredients native to Texas by people descended from the original inhabitants. We can learn about people's diet through archeology by studying plant remains – called “phytoliths” – in cooking pans or soil. Park archeologists found the remains of wheat, corn, squash, and pumpkin.

Watch three videos of foods cooked at the missions by clicking the name of recipes. Which ingredients were brought over from Spain? Which are native to Texas?

Duration:

2 minutes, 10 seconds

Recipe is adapted from La Cocina en el Bolsillo, an historical Mexican cookbook sold in the Market Square in San Antonio in the 1880s. Hojuelas are fried dough often topped with sweet syrup or sugar, usually consumed on holidays. Follow along and try the recipe yourself!

Duration:

1 minute, 58 seconds

A modern adaptation of foods native to South Texas. This recipe combines two ingredients found in pre-mission era South Texas: prickly pear and honey. Cinnamon was brought to South Texas by the Spanish during the mission era. Follow along and try it yourself!

Duration:

2 minutes, 20 seconds

Corn tortillas were a staple for indigenous peoples of the missions. Mission inhabitants would soak dried dent corn in cal, a lime powder derived from limestone. They would then grind the corn on a metate, press the dough into a thin tortilla, and pan fry the tortilla. Follow along as we walk you through cooking a traditional corn tortilla from scratch!