ChiChi finger licking good
A warm summers evening at a French fete or foire is not complete without a cone of ChiChi’s.
ChiChi’s are long deep fried beignets served hot, doused in sugar or Nutella in a paper cone (I prefer sugar). They are finger licking good and are the polar opposite of haute cusine. They are Spanish in origin where they are called Churros and are popular across the Spanish speaking world as a breakfast pastry.
The ChiChi’s are made by mixed up a soft batter that has been flavoured with vanilla or very occasionally orange-flower water, then pumped through a star shaped nozzle direct in to the hot oil and fried until golden.
It is generally a good idea to buy a cone a size larger than you want because an alarming number of hands will appear to help you manage them 
There are a bunch of recipes available online but I wouldn’t bother, you would struggle to get them correct at home, the shape of the ChiChi’s would be wrong, you would need a cone, friends, music and possibly fireworks, that’s a lot of hassle for a sweet snack. Best to just buy them when you get the chance and as the summer slips away and the season of fetes and foires begin to pass that’s what I’ll be doing.
Hi Ed
Commercially machines are available but they look expensive, I think a wide nozzle on an icing bag would work.
Regards
Colin
Wondered if you could get a machine that does these as think there maybe a market in the UK for them ?
I use to love Chichis. I remember a school trip in Spain, we went to a café and ordered a “chocolate con churros”, a thick hot chocolate with chichis.
Then I ate some in the south of France, and oil was coming out of the paper cone. It was really disgusting! I can’t eat chichis anymore.