Buffy Andrews began cooking as a young girl at her grandmother’s side in
New Orleans. Buffy’s grandmother showed her how to make recipes that are handed
down for generations along with all the tips and tricks for preparing them.
While Buffy has taken cooking classes along the way, she has found that the
foods she grew up eating are still her biggest source of inspiration. More
tasty tales and recipes can be found in her upcoming book, The Creole Table;
Contemporary New Orleans Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Cuisine.
Calas were, some believe, the
precursor to the modern beignet donut you can get in the French Quarter of New
Orleans today. The word “calas” hails from the West African word nupe kara,
which translates as “fried cake.” Calas are soft, sweet rice donuts covered in
powdered sugar and best served warm.
Historically, Creole slaves sold
them on the streets of the French Quarter in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The story of the cala illustrates what a unique and beautiful melting pot of
culture New Orleans is at its roots. New Orleans has brought the world Creole
cuisine, jazz music, and a unique city unlike any other.
As a native New Orleanian, I always
felt, in my heart, there was something special about the city of New Orleans.
The Cala story begins to illustrate the subtle uniqueness that makes up New
Orleans. The cala has all but fallen into obscurity, though it can still be
found in a few of the old French Quarter restaurants as well as in the homes of
some New Orleanians. The beignet has replaced it in popularity over the last
100 years or so but, at one time, it graced the tables where the beignet now
resides.
The French Quarter |
The cala, for me, is a story of hope
and transformation. What moves me about the story of the cala is how a simple
food like a rice donut was able to change the lives of some slaves.
I know it seems strange but, yes,
slaves. To give a bit of background, there were laws that slave-owners had to
adhere to.
The two local laws that are key to
this story are:
1. Slaves were given Sundays off.
2. If a slave came up to their owner
and asked to buy their freedom, the slave owner had to oblige.
These two rules set up the poetic
beauty of such a simple food. If a slave was industrious enough, he or she
could work on Sundays for herself making and selling calas. She could save her
money and buy her freedom. So it was common back then to hear Creole girls
carrying baskets full of hot donuts shouting Calas! Tout chaud! (“Hot calas!”)
in the streets.
I love the thought of slaves being able to buy
their freedom by making and selling calas. It makes my heart sing.
Growing up on the same rustic
streets where calas were once sold, I can imagine a Creole girl walking the
streets of the French Quarter selling her freshly made calas with the dream of
buying her freedom.
So never underestimate the power of
food, no matter how small. It can transform lives in so many ways...
A number of New Orleanian families
have a wonderful tradition of serving calas. Typically, these families are
descended from Creole slaves and have maintained this tradition of making and
eating calas for many generations. And what an outsider, not from New Orleans,
might miss at first glance is the true melting pot that is uniquely New
Orleans. Many of the families that have a cala tradition are white but, as they
look back along their family history, they probably have ancestors who were
slaves.
So this is how I see New Orleans: we
are all the same, joined together with a passion for food, music and a love for
a city that most people can’t understand. New Orleans is a city that defies
explanation; it must be experienced.
I have added here a recipe for
calas. I have adapted the recipe printed in the Times-Picayune to make it
gluten-free.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 pkg active dry yeast
3/4 cup cooked white rice
2 large eggs, beaten slightly
3/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free
flour
1 pinch Kosher salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg or
cinnamon
Optional peanut oil for frying
Powdered sugar for a heavy dusting
Directions: The day before you make your calas, combine
the water and sugar in a small bowl. Add the yeast and let stand until foamy,
about 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap,
and leave at room temperature overnight. This step will really give your calas
a distinctive flavor; think sourdough.
The next day, stir the rice mixture
and kind of mash the rice against the side of the bowl with a wooden spoon.
Don’t go too crazy though, as you’ll want a bit of texture in the finished
product.
Add the remaining ingredients to the
rice mixture, and mix well with a wooden spoon. The mixture should be a fairly
loose batter, a little thicker than pancake batter. Cover and let rise in a
warm place for 1 hour. This step will
make your calas as light as air when fried!
Heat 3 inches of peanut oil in a
large saucepan that’s been heated to 365 degrees. Drop spoonfuls of the batter
into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, turning once. Serve with lots and
lots of powdered sugar sprinkled over them, like beignets, or else drizzle with
cane syrup. Recipe makes about 6 good-sized calas.
I do hope you enjoy the calas as
much as I do.
Now I want calas for breakfast. Thanks for sharing this wonderful story with us, Buffy! We look forward to hearing more about your book when it is out!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try these. Thanks for sharing the history and the recipe. Very enlightening!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in New Orleans, I tried beignets but I wish I'd known about these treats at the time. I love food with a history. Very nice post!
ReplyDeleteLike, Heidi, I had beignets in New Orleans. I've never heard of calas before this post. I'm going to try the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI learned something, thank you! The history of food is often so interesting or surprising! Also it's interesting how many cousins beignets and calas have. In my native Holland we have "oliebollen" - literally "oil balls" which are scoops of eggless beignet batter dropped into hot oil and fried and then covered with loads of powdered sugar.
ReplyDeleteHi Kelly, Who is the artist of the courtyard painting? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI actually do not know who the artist is, sorry! Best of luck to you in finding it!
Kelly