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| Churros con chocolate Toni Kaarttinen, CC BY 2.0 |
Churros con chocolate are a delicious tradition in our country. In La Laguna on Corpus Christi Day we love to get up in the morning and leave the house to go to the nearest churrería (churro shop, a place that sells churros). We can eat them there or we can take them home in the popular “cones” of paper. The tradition of eating churros con chocolate has been in our islands for years.
Contrary to how it may seem, the origin of churros is in China. Specifically ‘youtiao‘, a dish eaten for breakfast that consisted of strips of fried and salted dough. The expression translates to ‘demon fried in oil‘ and referred to Quin Hui, a Song dynasty official and his wife, who were considered ‘demons’ responsible for the death of a renowned general. How did it end up in Spain and becoming churros? It's said, the visits of Spanish and Portuguese merchants to China led them to the Iberian Peninsula. At first, it became a typical dish among poor people who worked in the fields. It's said that the name ‘churro’ is derived from the name of churra sheep, whose horns resembled the fried dough.
That's how the first churrerías were born. Later, and after the discovery of America, cocoa and sugar reached the Peninsula and were added to the dish. It went from being a shepherd's meal to a delicious delicacy sold in all the cities and traveling fairs. Today we can enjoy churros with chocolate anywhere.
And in case, like me, you're salivating: Easy Churros With Chocolate Sauce
