In celebration of Black History Month, we are making and learning about calas rice fritters.<\/p>\n
Calas are similar to beignets in preparation and taste. They are usually made of leftover rice with sugary egg batter, then friend and dusted with powdered sugar. “Calas” is from the Nupe word ‘k\u00e1r\u00e1’ meaning ‘fried cake’ (Nupe are people from west central Nigeria).<\/p>\n
This breakfast food has a fascinating history.\u00a0Scholars think slaves from rice-growing parts of Africa probably brought calas to New Orleans, Louisiana.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the 1760s, when the Spanish took control of Louisiana from the French, they brought with them a legal instrument called a coartacion<\/i>, which gave slaves the right to buy their freedom. For some enslaved black women in the city, selling calas was key to earning money for some of these purchases. They would purchase freedom for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n They usually sold calas on their day off \u2014 it was required by law at the time that slaves had a day off. Most had Sundays off, so after church, that\u2019s the day most often you\u2019d calas vendors out in the street, yelling in French \u2018hot calas for sale\u2019.\u00a0More than 1,400 New Orleans slaves bought their freedom under Spanish rule. But it’s not clear just how many did so with calas money.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that, according to s<\/span>ome African-American culinary historians, not all calas vendors were enslaved. And the ones who were slaves often sold them for their mistresses. If they were lucky, they were allowed to keep a portion of the money, or perhaps have it go towards their freedom. Free people of color were also very successful during this time, so some of the calas vendors could have been wealthy merchants.<\/p>\n In the 1800s, many African American women made their living<\/span> selling calas and other street foods — even after Americans stopped the coartacion<\/i> soon after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.<\/p>\n In the 1900s, many calas vendors disappeared; in 1940, only one merchant remained. But calas still remains a popular treat at home among African Americans. The Old Coffeepot Restaurant<\/span><\/a><\/span>, a French Quarter breakfast joint, has had calas on the menu for decades.<\/p>\n Since the 1990s through today, calas enthusiasts have been sharing the story of calas; it’s thanks to them that calas have risen in popularity. In the early 2000s, variations such as savory calas, arrived on the menu in America.\u00a0In Africa today, women in the open-air markets would still be making calas.<\/p>\n In the early recipes for calas, yeast was added to the batter to make a sponge, then proofed overnight, giving it a rise. In this recipe, we are going to use baking powder as the rising agent instead.<\/p>\n Traditionally, calas was also fried in lard.\u00a0We are going to use vegetable oil to fry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Video caption:\u00a0 In celebration of Black History Month, we are making and learning about calas rice fritters. Librarian Jane Gov teaches a live cooking lesson to teens. This is an edited video from the February 7, 2022 lesson.<\/p>\n
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