Calas (New Orleans Rice Fritters)

Before beignets became the darling of tourists, there were calas. These humble rice fritters once defined breakfast in New Orleans, sold by African American women who walked the French Quarter streets calling "Belle calas! Tout chauds!" Beautiful calas, piping hot. That cry echoed through the Quarter from the 1700s until the early twentieth century, when the tradition nearly disappeared.

The genius of calas lies in their economy. Enslaved cooks and later free women of color transformed leftover rice into something beautiful. The overnight yeast fermentation creates a light, almost ethereal texture that no baking powder can replicate. When you bite through that crisp shell dusted with powdered sugar, the inside is tender and slightly chewy from the rice, perfumed with nutmeg and vanilla.

At Lagniappe, I serve calas during Jazz Brunch because they deserve to be remembered. This is living history you can taste. The recipe I'm sharing comes from four generations of New Orleans cooks who refused to let this tradition die. My grandmother Evangeline made them every Sunday, and now you can too.