San Ginés – Madrid’s Church of Chocolate

Spanish — By admin on July 8, 2007 12:00 am

Baptisms of Chocolate!

The next time you’re heading home after your run of weekend party rituals – standing in long lines , dancing for hours, exchanging numbers, etc – you might want to consider one final rite: the sacrament of chocolate and churros.

Chocolate and churros are time honored-tradition here in Spain and subsequently in other countries. Churros, long cylindrical doughnut-like pastries, are usually dunked in the accompanying thick chocolate drink. This chocolate is not the same as a typical a mug of cocoa – it actually has more in common with hot pudding as your spoon can literally stand up in this decadent mixture.

Most would consider this a bit much for a typical breakfast, but many do indulge after a night out as is evidenced by the post-party crowd jamming into Madrid’s most famous churreria, San Ginés.

As with so many habits in Spain, there is just something intuitively correct about this little ritual – at this point you are low on blood sugar, needing to take a load off, wanting to have a final chat with your friends. If it didn’t work, this half-hidden specialty café wouldn’t have been doing booming business since 1894. In the early hours of Sunday morning (or any other morning for that matter) the masses flock to this spot with religous reverence.

The chocolate and churro experience is just one of those things you have to experience during your time in Spain. If not, your initiation into the culture is simply not complete.

Chocolaterìa San Ginés

Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5

T: 91 365 65 46

Eternally open except between 7 and 9.30 every morning!

For more delicious places to eat at click here