Eissa Albinali

The most popular dessert in Spain and one of the most well-known desserts in all the world, churros have been around for hundreds of years and different people have different ideas on how they came to be.

Some say they originated from an ancient Chinese pastry called Youtiao, a fried dough pastry that is not sweet. They say they came to Spain when the Portuguese explorers brought the Chinese pastry Youtiao to the Iberic Peninsula. Many people liked the pastry and the Youtiao started to take on its distinct star shaped edges and sweetness.

Other people say churros were invented by Spanish shepherds who fried dough made of flour. The name of the pastry was inspired by the Churra Sheep, a species native to Spain.

Even though the history of the origin of the churro is not exact, we do know when chocolate started to become a common pairing with the churro. Churros were introduced to South America during the Spanish inquisitions in the 1500’s. When Spanish people in South America returned to Spain they came with cocoa. Using the cocoa, they made liquid chocolate sauce, sweetened it with cane sugar and began to pair it with their churros.

Before I came to Spain, I had a totally different idea of what churros were than when I tried them here. Back in the US, I always thought churros were just long fried sticks of dough, heavily covered in cinnamon and sugar. Every time I went to Costco and got a churro, that is what they gave me. It’s true that cinnamon and sugar churros are one type of churro, however, that is not how they make them in Spain.

In Spain, churros are airy sticks of fried dough that are crispy on the outside and little dough inside. They are not thick and solid like the ones in the US. They are traditionally served with a hot liquid chocolate sauce that you dip the churros in and then drink the rest of the chocolate after you are done with the churros. Churros here are meant to be eaten slowly and with others people sharing the portion. When you order churros here, it’s never just one churro, you order a ‘portion,’ which is typically 5 churros at a time.

The first time I tried churros in Spain was in a place called “Churreria” which literally means churro shop. They say any place that says ‘Cafeteria’ on the outside of the restaurant serves churros. The “Churreria” café is known for being one of the best places in Granada to eat churros. My family and I sat down and ordered two orders of churros (that means 10 churros!), three glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice and 2 cups of ‘Café con leche’, coffee with milk.

Here in Spain many people have ‘Churros con Chocolate’ with ‘Café con leche’ as a common breakfast. You will often find Spanish people go to a bar in the morning to have not beer, but churros and coffee. After a few minutes the drinks arrived at our table followed by the churros and chocolate.

The first thing I went for were the churros. I picked up one churro and dipped it in the hot chocolate sauce. I put the churro in my mouth and tried it, I was amazed by the taste!

The crispy fried dough dipped in the rich chocolate sauce made for a great dessert. I dipped my churro in the chocolate again and took another bite. The taste of the churro was so different from the churros I had in Costco in the US. In the US, the churros were covered in cinnamon and sugar and the sugar gets everywhere, on my clothes, face, the floor, but here you dip it in chocolate.

Both churros taste good, but the Spanish churro was the obvious winner. The crispy fired churros with the silky liquid chocolate make the best pair. I really enjoyed trying the Spanish version of churros and will definitely be ordering them again next time I go to a restaurant. I am looking forward to trying other Spanish foods and desserts.