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Churros

Churros served with thick hot chocolate
Alternative names	Porras Calentitos Papitas
Course	Breakfast
Place of origin	Spain
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Flour
Cookbook: Churros   Media: Churros

Churros, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, are fried-dough pastry-based snacks, sometimes made from potato dough, that originated in Spain. They are also popular in Latin America, France, Portugal, Morocco, the United States, Australia, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. There are two types of churros in Spain. One is thin (and usually knotted) and the other, especially popular in Madrid, is long and thick (porra). They both are normally eaten for breakfast dipped in hot chocolate.

History

After the Portuguese sailed for the Orient and returned from Ming Dynasty China to Portugal, they brought along with them new culinary techniques, including modifying the dough for Youzagwei also known as You tiao in Northern China, for Portugal. However, they modified it by introducing a star design because they did not learn the Chinese skill of "pulling" the dough (the Chinese Emperor made it a crime with capital punishment to share knowledge with foreigners). As a result, the churros is not "pulled" but pushed out through a star-shaped cutter.^[1]

Preparation

Churros are typically fried until they become crunchy, and may be sprinkled with sugar. The surface of a churro is ridged due to having been piped from a churrera, a syringe with a star-shaped nozzle. Churros are generally prisms in shape, and may be straight, curled or spirally twisted.

Like pretzels, churros are often sold by street vendors, who will often fry them freshly on the street stand and sell them hot. In Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, they are available in cafes for breakfast, although they may be eaten throughout the day as a snack as evident in Nicaragua. Specialized churrerías can be found in the form of a shop or a trailer during the holiday period. In Colombia they can be found in the streets but they are thin and shaped like a ring.

The dough is a mixture of flour, water and salt.

Variations

In southern and southwestern Spain the word churro usually refers to the thicker variant, called porra elsewhere. The thicker variant is usually fried in the shape of a continuous spiral and cut into portions afterwards. The center of the spiral is thicker and softer, and for many a delicacy in itself.

In parts of South East Spain, a much thinner dough is used which does not allow for the typical ridges to be formed on the surface of the churro. The final result has therefore a smooth surface and is more pliable and of a slightly thinner diameter than standard Spanish churros. Another difference is that sugar is never sprinkled on them as the flavour is not considered suitable.

Filled, straight churros are found in Cuba (with fruit, such as guava), Brazil (with chocolate, doce de leite, among others), and in Argentina, Peru, Chile and Mexico (usually filled with dulce de leche or cajeta but also with chocolate and vanilla). In Spain they have a considerably wider diameter to allow for the filling. In Uruguay, churros can also come in a savoury version, filled with melted cheese.

References

See also

• Cuisine of the Community of Madrid
• Puff Puff, similar Nigerian recipe
• Zlebia, the same sweet in the Maghreb (North Africa)
• Awwamaat
• Zalābiya
• List of fried dough foods
• Tulumba

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Churros.

• Easy Churros recipe spanishfood.about.com