Sweet fried rice fritters once cried through the French Quarter — 'Belle cala! Tout chaud!' — by free women of color who bought their freedom with the trade. A near-lost dish carrying enormous history.
The cala women are among the most important figures in Black New Orleans economic history: free and enslaved women of color who sold calas in the streets and, in documented cases, used the proceeds to purchase their own and their children's freedom. The dish is a monument to Black women's enterprise and emancipation.
Calas are a treat, not a health food — fried, sweetened rice. Their value to APEX is ancestral and psychological more than nutritional: they are a tangible link to West African rice culture and to Black economic self-emancipation. Made with brown rice, less sugar, and a light pan-fry, they can be a far gentler indulgence.
Mix cooked rice with flour, egg, sugar, and leavening into a thick batter, drop by spoonfuls into hot oil, and fry until golden, then dust with powdered sugar. To lighten: use brown or leftover whole-grain rice, cut the sugar substantially, leaven so they stay airy with less batter, and shallow-fry or air-fry instead of deep-frying.
Free, no account needed to ask.