The origin of the name has been disputed; some who prefer sound to sense derive it from _Manzana_, an apple, which had it been cider might have passed; others connect it with the distant town of _Mansanilla_ on the opposite side of the river, where it is neither made nor drunk. The real etymology is to be found in its striking resemblance to the bitter flavour of the flowers of camomile (_manzanilla_), which are used by our doctors to make a medicinal tea, and by those of Spain for fomentations. This flavour in the wine is so marked as to be at first quite disagreeable to strangers. If its eulogistic consumers are to be believed, the wine surpasses the tea in hygæian qualities: none, say they, who drink it are ever troubled with gravel, stone, or gout. Certainly, it is eminently free from acidity. The very best Manzanilla is to be had in London of Messrs. Gorman, No. 16, Mark Lane. Since “_Drink it, ye dyspeptics_,” was enjoined last year in the ‘Handbook,’ the importation of this wine to England, which previously did not exceed ten butts, has in twelve short months overpassed two hundred; a compliment delicate as it is practical, which is acknowledged by the author--a drinker thereof--with most profound gratitude. By the way, the real thing to eat with Manzanilla is the _alpistera_. Make it thus:--To one pound of fine flour (mind that it is dry) add half a pound of double-refined, well-sifted, pounded white sugar, the yolks and whites of four very fresh eggs, well beaten together; work the mixture up into a paste; roll it out very thin; divide it into squares about half the size of this page; cut it into strips, so that the paste should look like a hand with fingers; then dislocate the strips, and dip them in hot melted fine lard, until of a delicate pale brown; the more the strips are curled up and twisted the better; the _alpistera_ should look like bunches of ribbons; powder them over with fine white sugar. They are then as pretty as nice. It is not easy to make them well; but the gods grant no excellence to mortals without much labour and thought. So Venus the goddess of grace was allied to hard-working Vulcan, who toiled and pondered at his fire, as every cook who has an aspiring soul has ever done. [Sidenote: SPANISH INNS.] CHAPTER XV. Spanish Inns: Why so Indifferent--The Fonda--Modern Improvements--The Posada--Spanish Innkeepers--The Venta: Arrival in it--Arrangement--Garlic--Dinner--Evening--Night--Bill--Identity with the Inns of the Ancients. [Sidenote: INNS--WHY SO INDIFFERENT.]