You’ve heard of beignets, the sweet, eggy pillows, deep-fried and served in New
Orleans under mountains of powdered sugar. But calas? The crisp-tender dumplings made of leftover rice play poor sister to the Big Easy’s more glamorous pastry – when they are remembered at all. But both are part of Mardi Gras. So in the spirit of Carnival, we offer you a beignet-calas faceoff. Think Alien v. Predator, but tastier.
Pronunciation
Beignets: Ben-YAY
Calas: Kah-LAH
Provenance
Beignets: Brought to Louisiana by French Acadians from Nova Scotia in the 1700s (or by Ursuline nuns, depending on who’s telling the story.) The first recipes date back to the 1880s.
Calas: Arrived with the enslaved rice-growing people of west Africa. The word is thought to come from one or more African languages, according to “The Dictionary of American Food & Drink,” such as the Nupe word kárá, or “fried cake.” The first mention of “calas” can be traced to 1790.
Production
Beignets: flour, baking powder/yeast, salt, lemon zest (or some hint of citrus), sugar, egg yolks, milk, stiffly beaten egg whites. Rolled, cut and fried in oil.
Calas: cooked rice, eggs, vanilla, nutmeg, sugar, flour,* salt, baking powder/yeast. Traditionally dropped off a spoon into frying oil, they are sometimes formed into a ball and then fried.
*The 1901 “Picayune Creole Cookbook” notes that “true” calas contain no wheat flour, only flour made of pounded rice.
Presentation
Beignets: light, puffy pillows, generally 2- or 3-inches square. Piled into a pyramid and doused in powdered sugar. Impossible to eat without photo-worthy mess. Most often eaten plain, but sometimes filled with fruit or savory items. Check out New Orleans chef Susan Spicer’s recipe for shrimp beignets.
Calas: the size of a golf ball. Crisp outside, moist inside, lighter than a hushpuppy, but same idea. Traditionally served with Steen’s Cane Syrup for dipping (think molasses lite.) Today more commonly found in restaurants as a savory filled with shrimp, Andouille sausage or other Bayou numkins. And yes, of course we have a recipe.
Procurement
Beignets: nicknamed “French market donuts,” beignets have traditionally been sold from coffee stands in New Orleans’ French quarter. The famed Café du Monde is thought to have been the first. Opened in 1862, CDM, as it’s known, can serve beignets to as many as 10,000 people every day. Many locals swear by Morning Call Coffee Stand, an upstart from 1870.
Calas: May be the original New Orleans street food. For more than 100 years,
and possibly as many as 200, calas were sold in the streets by Creole women, who carried the fresh, hot fritters in giant baskets on their heads, calling “Calas, bels calas tout chauds!" (Calas, beautiful calas very hot!) Calas women – and calas – vanished after World War II, most likely because of war-time rationing. They were preserved in African-American Catholic families where they were eaten on Mardi Gras and on the morning of a child’s first communion. Today, calas are making a comeback in restaurants. The Old Coffeepot Restaurant – one of the few that never stopped carrying them – serves calas with grits or with powdered sugar and maple syrup. But many chefs prefer a savory version, stuffing them with shrimp or crawdads. Chef Frank Brigtsen, a fifth-generation New Orleanian, makes jambalaya and red beans and rice calas.
Pre-Lent
Beignets: part of Mardi Gras in France since at least the 16th century. They were the big splurge before eggs and oil were forsaken for the 40 days of Lent.
Calas: In the early 20th century, prostitutes would dress up as baby dolls and parade on Carnival day, says Poppy Tooker, host of the public radio program “Louisiana Eats,” and a crusader to save calas. As the women went from house to house, Tooker says, they were served calas.
So, beignets or calas?:
Poppy Tooker
“In my book, calas. The texture’s more interesting. Sometimes beignets are just so greasy. It’s something about the doughiness of it. Most of the time, if I have two beignets, I kind of feel a little sick. But I can eat calas, particularly savory style, until the cows come home.”
Will Falcon (executive chef and general manager, The Old Coffeepot Restaurant, New Orleans)
“It’s like night and day. Beignets are airy, they’ve got a big empty spot in the center. The calas cakes are almost like a really nice rice pudding, deep fried.”
David Guas (native New Orleanian and chef/owner, Bayou Bakery, Arlington, Va.)
“I don’t know if that’s a fair question. Even though they’re fried, it’s apples to oranges. You don’t have rice in a beignet, you have tons of powdered sugar on a beignet and you don’t have a syrup. … The calas for me, even though you see them on menus as a dessert item, I still associate them with breakfast. It’s my own personal opinion on it.”
Frank Brigtsen (chef and owner, Brigtsen’s, New Orleans, and Charlie’s Seafood, Harahan, La.)
“Since I started doing savory calas, I find it more interesting. Local chefs do make savory beignets with crabmeat, crawfish, etc., but I find the rice adds a more interesting flavor and texture as opposed to the flour-based beignet.”
Where do you come down?