By Ana Becerra
Who can deny “the drink of the gods” and the delicious sweetness of churros? The oldest churrería in Mexico can be found in Mexico City in an important historical center, just a few blocks away from the historic Zocalo. Churrería El Moro was established in 1935 in Mexico City by Spanish immigrants. The churrería has changed throughout the years. The size of the business has increased, decorations have changed, the new items have been added to the menu, but one thing has not changed, the delicious churros and hot chocolates. The have four types of hot chocolates: the mexicano, the French, the Spanish, the swiss. The churros is served with sugar and cinnamon.
The origin of the churro is unknown to history. Their origin can be traced back to different countries. The churro has not only passed from culture to culture, but it also managed to establish a high popularity among different communities around the world. It started as a breakfast pastry created by Chinese Portuguese merchants. The fried pastry was being made back in the Iberia peninsula, where they added sugar, creating what we know today as the “churro”. Long after, churros made an appearance in Spain. Spanish shepherds are responsible for giving the churro its name from the churra sheep horns. Since churros were so easy to make, they grew in popularity rapidly. Churros were later introduced to Mexico by Spanish conquistadors during the sixteenth century.
The creation of the hot chocolate can be traced back to ancient times as the cacao tree is native to Mexico. The cacao is classified as, “the drink of the gods”, only for the privileged nobles, but it also had a great significant for public ceremonies and rituals. The chocolate comes from the seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. The chocolate is prepared by crushing and mixing the seeds with fine corn meal, vanilla, and different variations of spices. The cacao tree was not only important for cultural reasons, but it was also considered a very important source of money by Spanish conquistadores.
The churros and the chocolate drink are very popular in the Mexican culinary world. The combination of these two dishes gave Mexico the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds, brought by the Spanish conquistadores and native Meous soamerican tribes.
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Official Website
http://elmoro.mx
Cite this Page
Ana Becerra, “Churrería El Moro,” HistoricalMX, accessed June 11, 2024, https://historicalmx.org/items/show/82.
Related Sources
- Harris, T. J. “Cacao Growing.”Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. 62, no. 3226, 1914, pp. 910–912.JSTOR,www.jstor.org/stable/41341727."Mexican Churros! - Mexico NewsNetwork."Http://www.mexiconewsnetwork.com/gastronomy/mexican-churros/. N.p., 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 03 Aug. 2017Murdo, MacLeod J. "Cacao." Cambridge World History of Food, edited by Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas, vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 635-641. Gale Virtual Reference Library, ezproxy.shsu.edu/login? url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GVRL&sw=w&u=txshracd2543&v=2.1&id=GALE|CX3450400085&it=r&asid=5560896c865e689a9510d246c664882a. Accessed 17 June 2017. Quintana, Ana Sofia. "Churrería El Moro." E-mail interview. 1 Aug. 2017.Ramírez Camacho, Karina, et al., “Churrería El Moro, tradición e historia”, Claustronomía. Revista gastronómica digital, Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, México, D.F., 2014, www.claustronomia.mx.
