Churros Spanish Donuts: learning about life’s treats at QVM

Family, giving and good vibrations – both percussive and of a spiritual kind – are what motivate Queen Victoria Market (QVM) stallholder Christian Silva.

And in recent years the operator of Australia’s first churros stall has learnt to truly appreciate the family business as well as his music and Navajo stones.

Churros Spanish Donuts had given three generations of his family a good life, Silva said, but the 48-year-old hasn’t always seen things that way.

“I battled with this business a lot because I fell into it,” he told CBD News.

“You need to suffer to realise what you’ve got.”

Established by his Chilean parents in 1976, the stall was the first in Australia to sell churros, according to the family, and it has been serving up the long, sweet curvy treats along with a selection of authentic South American dishes in more or less the same location ever since.

The churros caravan is in B Shed fronting Peel St.

In the very early days, it was “a different Australia,” Silva said. “Nobody knew about churros.”

His mother, Olga, who still serves on the stall two or three days a week and makes its delicious chocolate, caramel and Nutella dipping sauces, agrees.

“Those times were tough,” she said. “There was a lot of racism.”

Thankfully, it only lasted a few years. Starting as a 16-year-old, Silva would help his parents on the stall and “earn some coin to go out and party.”

The business kept him grounded at a time when drugs and other distractions beckoned, he said.

But he resented the stress and long hours it demanded of his family and felt like serving customers wasn’t for him.

Even so, after his father developed dementia Silva took over the stall. He said that it wasn’t until three years ago, when his marriage broke down that he started to truly appreciate it.

After the breakup the father-of-two was a mess and decided he had to change.

Meanwhile Silva sought solace in music.

“I had my congas in the back of my car, and I would sit at a park and practise because I knew that made me happy,” he said.

“Each time I felt sad, each time I felt I had failed my kids, I would find a park and practise, crying. That was what I had to go through.”

A percussionist, who had practised since his teenage years, Silva had a lifelong desire to play in bands. Drumming in public helped make it happen.

“All of a sudden, somehow these bands came about. To me, it was magical,” he said.

When you first see him, you notice Silva’s tattoos, beads, piercings and “Navajo stones”.

The adornments all reflect his feelings about music.

“I was a big Jim Morrison and Jimmy Hendrix fan, and you know, turquoise was big in the ‘70s,” he said. “Once upon a time, I also had long hair and used to wear flares.”

He is now “playing around” in three different ensembles – Sub Soul, Mozgroove and Rubita – and sometimes jams with them at the market.

He has also developed a different approach to the business.

Working all weekend and coming home worried and angry, like his father had, was a big part of his relationship problem, he believes.

“Now I take time, I go on holiday with my kids and if I need to, I take time to rehearse.”

His kids – daughter Elu, 11, and son, Inti, 7 – feature prominently in the photo gallery stuck to the side of the fridge in the churros caravan.

They have inspired him to become “a better human as well as a better musician, better father and better example for them,” Silva said.

Another important focus is supporting the people around him.

“You’ve got to help each other out. If you can’t help your community, you can’t help the rest. That’s my philosophy,” he said.

Every Sunday afternoon Silva cooks a big batch of churros to give to the homeless who congregate for food served by outreach services behind the market.

And day to day his caravan is a focal point for members of the Latino community.

“In the last 10 years there’s been a huge influx of Latin Americans and Spaniards from Europe because things are tough in those places,” he said.

Some of these new residents are very young and many miss home.

Silva offers them practical help and a place to hang out as well as food that they love.

“We talk in Spanish, you know, we muck around, sometimes we play music,” he said.

Now that he is a musician Silva is teaching his kids to “align with what you love so then you’re a happy human being”.

“When you’re a happy human being, you give happiness,” he said.

Meanwhile, to help find it, there are churros. •