Churros, one of Spain's greatest gifts to gastronomy

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn," observed the late journalist Hal Borland. Thank goodness that's true, for this winter has been one of unusual climactic discontent.

The weather has tested our patience and rendered typical methods of coping -- like getting extra sleep, trying to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer when we complained about the heat, and browsing seed catalogs -- only marginally effective.

What's worse, the groundhog is on record predicting that there's more on the way. If ever there were a season for hot chocolate and churros, this is it.

Churros, or Spanish doughnuts, dipped in hot chocolate as they typically are at cafes all over the country, are one of Spain's greatest gifts to gastronomy, ranking up there with other Castilian culinary contributions like paella, manchego cheese and the world's greatest ham.

Fritter-like pastries made from cylinders of ridged batter and sprinkled with sugar, churros -- along with Italian zeppole, Hawaiian malasadas, Dutch oliebollen, French beignets and American hush puppies and fry bread -- testify to the virtues of fried dough.

The entrance to the Chocolateria San Gines in Madrid, the most famous place to have churros in Spain and, perhaps, the world. (TOM HARTE)

As such, they are among the oldest forms of cooking known to humankind, going back thousands of years to the invention of pottery, which, of course, by making possible the manufacture of vessels to contain hot oil also made frying feasible.

As Michael Krondl observes in his book on the history of desserts, the fundamental recipe for churros is exactly like one in the ancient cookbook attributed to Apicius, the great Roman gourmet. Those precursors of churros looked a little different from the ones we know today, having been cut into squares rather than extruded through a churrera (a piping device with a star-shaped nozzle), but the recipe for them serves to show that people have been enjoying fried choux paste, which is what churros essentially are, for centuries.

However, the modern history of churros is a subject about which food historians are not in full agreement. Some contend that the credit for inventing the contemporary churro belongs to China and to Portuguese sailors who visited that country and discovered a snack called youtiao (it means "oil-fried devil"), sort of a Chinese cruller not unlike a churro. The sailors brought the idea back home with them, and, the story goes, it was soon adopted by nearby Spain.

Not surprisingly, despite the good relations between Portugal and Spain these days, the Spaniards are loath to give credit for one of their signature dishes to their Iberian neighbors.

Instead, they cite nomadic Spanish shepherds, who, living high in the mountains with no access to fancy cooking devices, invented churros out of necessity because they were easy to fix with nothing more than a frying pan placed over a fire.

Churros, or Spanish donuts, piled high on a platter set on a marble table amid the old-time decor of the famed†Chocolateria San GinÈs in Madrid, where they have been a specialty for over one hundred years, are ready for dipping into hot chocolate. (TOM HARTE)

As proof of this version of history, the Spaniards point out that churros look very much like the horns on the Spanish churra sheep and obviously take their name from them.

Whatever the case, there's no question in the minds of many gourmets that the best churros are made in Spain, especially Madrid, and, in particular, at the Chocolateria San Gines. In an old-time decor complete with antique mirrors, marble tables and velvet upholstery, they've been serving churros, cut to length from long spirals and ready for dipping into hot cocoa, since 1894.

If you could go there, as many Spaniards do, both day and night, you might start to wish that winter would never end.

Churros

This recipe, adapted from the Food Network website, is the one used by the Chocolateria San Gines, the most famous place to have churros in Spain and, therefore, arguably the world.

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs

Combine sugar and cinnamon. Bring water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to low and add flour, stirring vigorously until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and add eggs, beaten together, stirring until mixture is smooth. Using a pastry bag with a star tip squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil (360 degrees) and fry about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Tom Harte's book, "Stirring Words," is available at local bookstores. A Harte Appetite airs Fridays 8:49 a.m. on KRCU, 90.9 FM. Contact Tom at semissourian.com or at the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63702-0699.