In Spain, there are two very different chocolate drinks, and they are often confused. In winter, this happens even more, especially on squares and in cafés.
Hot chocolate milk or thick chocolate
Most people are familiar with ColaCao caliente or Cacaolat caliente: hot chocolate made with milk and cocoa. It is something you drink at home or with breakfast. Thinner, milder, meant as a drink.
In contrast, there is chocolate a la taza. This is not hot chocolate milk, but thick, almost pudding-like chocolate. So thick that you do not take a sip, but eat it with a spoon. This chocolate is not simply drunk, but eaten, usually together with something to dip into it.
Churros or melindros
Often these are churros, but not always. When churros are not eaten, you will also regularly see melindros on the table. These are light, dry, cake-like biscuits, similar to ladyfingers. They absorb the chocolate well and are less heavy than fried dough. Especially at home or in cafés, melindros are a common companion to hot chocolate.
A winter habit on the square
Chocolate a la taza clearly belongs to winter here. To cold weather, to holidays, to mornings and afternoons when people have time. You mainly see it with older people, sitting around five or six in the afternoon at cafés on town squares. Sometimes outside, sometimes in a tent with heaters. Chocolate in front of them, something to dip, and no rush. It is not a snack, but a moment.
Where to get good churros
Churros themselves are a separate story. What you get in ordinary cafés or from street carts is often simply bad. They are made earlier, reheated, or fried in oil that has passed its best. You taste that immediately. Heavy, greasy, and not very pleasant.
Good churros are found at specialised churros shops. Places that do little else besides churros and chocolate. There, they are made fresh and served straight away. The difference is big and unmistakable.
Hot chocolate with churros or melindros belongs to cold weather, to taking time, and to being together.
Tarragona on January 1st
One image that stayed with me was Tarragona on January 1st. Around ten in the morning, there was a long line of people waiting to buy churros and chocolate for breakfast on this holiday. Not a tourist attraction, but locals who knew exactly where to go. Moments like that show how alive this habit still is.
Hot chocolate with churros or melindros is not an everyday habit here, and certainly not a summer thing. It fits the season, and the moment.