I'd never fried anything and was genuinely nervous about hot oil at the kitchen counter. Chef Marcela handled that well — the setup and the safety talk came before anyone turned on a hob, and she gave a way to test the oil temperature without a thermometer. The dough is stiffer than you expect, which is deliberate; a loose one loses its ridges in the oil, and the ridges are what make a churro rather than a doughnut.
Tessa