DO YOU love eating churros? If yes, do you like it coated with ground cinnamon or powdered sugar? Fried or baked? Dipped in chocolate or caramel?
The creative variations through which churros are served have evolved through the years. Before becoming a household favorite, churros were simply deep-fried dough sticks dipped in thick, hot chocolate. Little do most people know that despite being known in Hispanic countries, the creation of this pastry took inspiration from the Chinese youtiao—strips of golden pastry traditionally eaten for breakfast. Others believe that Portuguese sailors who visited Northern China brought youtiao with them to Europe. But churros owe its popularity to nomadic Spanish shepherds who discovered that the pastry resembled the curly horns of a Spanish sheep called churra.
Churros are easily distinguished for their ridged texture, which can be produced by piping dough through a star-shaped nozzle. Sometimes known as Spanish donuts, the well-loved delicacy eventually dominated street food stalls in Spain, Portugal, USA, and other Latin American countries.
Thankfully, there are now a number of restaurants in Davao City that serve churros. Here are the ones I recommend that you try:
Project Paella. If you’re looking for a snack to tantalize your taste buds, try the churros from Project Paella located along F. Torres Street. You will savor every bite of this dessert, which is actually soft and fluffy despite looking crisp on the outside. Although one order costs P150.00 on a regular day, you can avail of their churros for P99.00 only on Tuesdays.
Maitre Chocolatier. Located in Abreeza Mall, this boutique café serves 8 pieces of skinny churros with a little bowl of Lindt dark chocolate dip. One order costs P156 only.
Army Navy. For only P85, you can enjoy five sticks of crunchy, golden churros sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. For the dip, you can choose between chocolate or caramel.
Churros City. Served by Miguelito’s Diner, Churros City serves soft, U-shaped churros with a variety of sugar and dip flavors. They also serve toppings that range from mini nips, marshmallows, crushed peanuts, and chocolate sprinkles. One order costs P 35 to P40.
Churreria La Lola. They serve deep-fried colorful churros that come in different flavors such as matcha choco, dark choco, butterscotch choco, and white choco. Aside from the assortment of flavors and dips, this churro café also serves churros coated with almonds, marshmallows, and peanuts. If you want something different, you can try their Nutella-stuffed churros for P 120 only.
S&R. One order consists of one crunchy cinnamon-coated churro stick wrapped in paper, which looks exactly like the churros sold in Disneyland.
If ever you have trouble finding these food shops and restaurants, the irresistible scent of fried dough mixed with cinnamon and chocolate will lead you there.