By Ting Lian
I was 8 years old, riding on the large Costco shopping carts, when my father asked me, “Do you want that?”
He points above the large window panes outside of the store, a label, TWISTED CHURROS, $1.49. I nod my head. I didn’t know how to pronounce “Churro” or what it was. My head barely reached the counter as I received the two warm swirled sticks. I asked, “Why are there two?”
“For your sister.” My father replied.
It had been less than a half a year since we moved to the United States, and with not much more than $2000 a month and a shabby apartment that keeps increasing rent, not having to share within the family and random expenditure was luxury. “Eat it here, the sugar is going to spill everywhere,” my father instructed.
Me and my sister sat swinging our legs on the open trunk of our rented Toyota Camry that had a weird smell and an odd colored-stain on the middle back seat. “Is it good? Let me have a bite,” my father asked, leaning down to take a bite before I even answered.
“It’s good.”
“Then why aren’t you finishing it?”
“For Mama.”
“Nah, the sugar’s going to melt. We can get it again next time.”
We would get the churros again, but only occasionally, because “that stuff is going to make you an American child” and every cent mattered. Swinging my legs while savoring every nibble brought me bliss. So imagine my surprise and shock when they discontinued the churros in 2024.
According to several Reddit posts (which are not verified), the churros were discontinued due to the low demand for them and to simplify food court operations. Most people agreed that the churros were dry and “mid”. But for an 8 year old that had never eaten any other churro, it was obviously the best churro! That said, nearly eight years later, I now find churros a stick of cholesterol and sugar. Despite that, the memory of nibbling the stick of twisting sugared deep fried dough will always be sweet.