Churros: the Pleasure of Traditional Spanish Cooking in the Centre of Prague
Is there any better way to start your day than sitting down to a relaxed brunch of piping hot, crispy churros and thick, rich hot chocolate?
Brief history
Michael Krondl, food historian and author of “A history of dessert” says something very true and interesting about food: it seems people like a lot to be possessive in everything related to food.
If you try to search for information about the origins of chocolate con churros you find important similarities with the Chinese youtiao, Arab buñuelos, or a recipe for a dessert you can find in De re Coquinaria, an ancient Roman book from around 1 BCE by Apicius.
This kind of texture in a dessert has a presence in most of the Mediterranean countries with different examples. However, the famous one we all know as chocolate con churros have its origin in San Ginés, the most ancient chocolatería in Madrid which still exists!
Valle-Inclán, one of the most important writers in Spain, talks about the dessert in Luces de Bohemia, his most important book. The chocolate con churros tradition was that when people left the theater, they went to eat them at the San Ginés chocolatería.
Finally in Prague!
In Spain, you would find a ‘churrería’ in every town, where these hot, crisp, doughnut sticks are served with rich hot chocolate. But what about Prague?
The newly-opened traditional Spanish restaurant SAGRADO will start organizing special brunches every Sunday, where you can taste authentic, homemade chocolate con churros.
“One day in April this year, a group of Czech students who were learning Spanish came to the restaurant of which I am the chef. That day, the students wanted churros, but it’s a recipe that I’ve never made before, so I was going to say to all those students that we don’t have churros which would have been very disappointing,” said Apoke, manager and chef of SAGRADO.
“However, at that moment, an angel appeared: Tanya, the girl who is training to be the future chef of the restaurant. She said to me: I know the recipe for Spanish churros. Can I try?”. I know well how great she is at cooking. So I said “Of course you can try, Tanya. Our churros are in your hands,” she added.
“I knew she was going to make something impressive. And she did. Tanya saved that day and the Prague students the pleasure of
traditional chocolate con churros. I am from Spain, specifically from Madrid, and believe me: those were the best churros I’ve ever eaten. Homogeneous crunchy texture outside and soft pastry inside. Just delicious.”
“As we make cocina de la abuela, our most important priority when we cook is having the best food possible. Our philosophy is simple: natural ingredients and slow cooking. Tanya makes such marvelous meals that we have decided to start opening for Sunday brunch to let Prague discover Spanish traditional gastronomy in the deepest way possible and made by the best hands I’ve ever met cooking: Tanya will be an extraordinary chef.
“I really want you to try her churros because she deserves all the city knows how good she is”, concludes Apoke.
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