jUST ABOUT EVERY CUISINE IN THE WORLD FRIES DOUGHS AND PASTRIES, because bubbling-hot fat is an excellent medium for quick-cooking and for making foods taste great. All you really need is a heat source and a heavy pot. This one simple technique has given rise to a dazzling variety of pastries that are favorites in so many societies. The sweet recipes here come from countries as different as Thailand, Mexico, Lebanon, and Italy, the last representing the lion’s share of the recipes. The fried pastries in this chapter display an incredible range of shapes, from blobs formed by pinching or stretching doughs by hand (Puff Puff, Anise Sfi nci, Malasadas) to fancier rolled and braided treats (Koeksisters). The textures range from soft with crisp exteriors (Calas, Casatelli, Sfi nci di Ricotta) to slightly chewy (Lebanese Fried Dough, Pa?czki) to crisp with a creamy cheese fi lling (Cannoli), very crisp (Fattigman, Buñuelos), and nice and crunchy (Chin Chin, Strufoli, Koeksisters). A couple of these pastries, Pa?czki and Malasadas, were originally made just before Lent as a way of using up rich perishable ingredients such as eggs, cream, and butter. Today they’re made year-round, but their popularity peaks around Fat Tuesday or Fat Thursday. Several others are Christmas specialties, while the remaining recipes are cooked throughout the year. Please feel free to make any of these sweets any time you want.
Calas
CALAS (PRONOUNCED “ka-LA”) are not-too-sweet rice fritters with a heavenly light, slightly chewy texture. They were a traditional delicacy for decades in New Orleans, until the early 1900s, accompanying the morning cup of café au lait or coffee. African food authority Jessica Harris, in her marvelous cookbook The Welcome Table, says:
[Calas] seem to have been the exclusive culinary preserve of African-American cooks who peddled them in the French Market and door to door, carrying their covered bowls of calas on their heads. Their cry, “Belles calas! Tout chaud! (Beautiful rice fritters! Nice and hot!)” is all that remains today of the cala. What is the African connection to a food so strongly identified with New Orleans? According to Jessica, the people of two rice-growing regions in West Africa, Liberia and Sierra Leone, make rice fritters—their word for rice is kala—and Africans from those regions were recorded in the Southern slave census. I do not know how rice fritters from West Africa might compare with these calas, but I do know that these are sensational, and I am indebted to Jessica for allowing me to use her recipe. When you eat these, don’t be surprised if you have a vision of a cala woman making her rounds, with her bandana tignon, guinea blue dress, and white apron, her cry piercing the morning air.
BATTER ¾ cup long-grain rice 2¼ cups cold water 1½ packages (3½ teaspoons) active dry yeast ½ cup warm water (105° to 115°F) 4 large eggs, well beaten 6 tablespoons granulated sugar ¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg ¾ teaspoon salt 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned into the cup and leveled) Vegetable oil for deep-frying Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
THE NIGHT BEFORE you plan to make the fritters, put the rice into a small heavy saucepan, add the water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir once or twice with a fork, cover the pan, reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, without disturbing the rice, until it is very tender and the water is absorbed.
SCRAPE THE RICE into a large bowl and mash it with the back of a wooden spoon or wooden spatula to a mushy consistency. Let cool slightly. MEANWHILE, in a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and give it a stir. Let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes.
WHEN THE RICE is lukewarm throughout, add the yeast and beat with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Place a damp towel over the bowl and leave the rice at room temperature overnight. THE NEXT MORNING, stir the beaten eggs into the rice, followed by the sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Gradually stir in the fl our. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the batter rise in a warm place for 30 minutes (or a bit longer). The batter will be very bubbly.
MEANWHILE, pour 3 inches of oil into a large heavy pot. Clamp a deep-fry thermometer to the side of the pot, or use a digital probe thermometer. Bring the oil to 375°F over medium to medium-high heat. Line a large baking sheet with several thicknesses of paper towels.
USE TWO SOUPSPOONS to shape the calas, one for dipping into the batter, the other for pushing the fritter off into the hot oil; take a well-rounded spoonful of batter for each cala. Fry the calas about 8 at a time for 6 minutes or so, until well browned. I get a tremendous kick out of watching the calas round up in the hot fat, sometimes forming spiky projections, and magically rolling themselves over from time to time. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set them on the paper towels to drain. Let the calas cool for a minute or so, and dust generously with confectioners’ sugar. Make sure the oil returns to the proper temperature between batches. Serve the calas tout chaud! These are best when eaten within 3 or 4 hours.
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