Old recipes can be like french fries and potato chips. One leads to another, then another and then another, and so on. Until you look up and find yourself in the bottom of a rabbit hole surrounded by dusty old cookbooks, recipe cards and yellow newspaper clippings.
What started me down this rabbit hole was a passage in the book Deep South: New Southern Cooking by Brad McDonald.
McDonald writes of old-fashioned calas -- sweet rice fritters once sold on the streets of New Orleans -- but includes a recipe called rice waffles.
I'm a huge fan of waffles, sweet, savory and cornmeal, so I was intrigued by the idea of one featuring rice. And a fritter along the lines of a beignet appealed to me in only the way deep-fried sugar can.
I asked my friends in New Orleans about rice waffles and calas. No one had heard of rice waffles (although a Dutch friend said they have them in The Netherlands), but I was told calas are an old New Orleans recipe from Africa or the Caribbean.
Knowing Arkansas farmers have been growing rice since the early 20th century, I turned to the newspapers' historic archives hoping to find recipes with a local connection. The oldest recipe for rice waffles I could find in our archives was an advertisement published in the Arkansas Gazette in 1920 from the Associated Rice Millers of America, headquartered in New Orleans:
Rice Waffles
One cup of cold boiled rice. No. 2., pressed through a sieve. One cup of flour; half a teaspoonful of salt, tablespoonful of sugar, teaspoonful and a half of baking powder, two eggs, heaping teaspoonful of butter and sweet milk enough to bind. First rub the butter into the sugar, sift together flour, salt and baking powder; add to the sugar and butter, then add the yolks of the eggs and the rice, thin this with milk to the consistency of cake batter, fold into it the beaten whites of the eggs. Have waffle irons hot and carefully greased, fill two-thirds full, close, and turn when brown.
A 1926 Arkansas Gazette piece noted rice waffles were to be served at the Cotton Belt railroad booth at the State Exposition and that 40,000 rice waffles were served at the Cotton Belt "booth during the first two weeks of the Greater St. Louis Exposition."
In the 1930s and '40s a syndicated column (similar to Susan Nicholson's 7-Day Menu Planner) called "Our Family Food Menus for the Week" by Jessie A. Knox frequently included rice waffles for breakfast, but the column did not include recipes.
In 1934 The Arkansas Gazette Magazine ran Versatility in Rice by N. Ethel Owen, Arkansas County Home Demonstration Agent, which featured a variety of rice recipes including waffles.
And a 1939 piece by Edith M. Shapcott in the Arkansas Gazette called for serving rice waffles with maple syrup alongside tiny country sausages, peach and cream cheese salad, toast strips, tea and milk.
Rice waffles continue to pop up here and there until 1944, then disappear from the Arkansas Gazette until 1960 when Phyllis Brandon (a name readers may recognize as this newspaper's High Profile editor until 2009) wrote about preparing them as a newlywed cook:
Rice Waffles
There are many favorite waffle recipes, but for a change use a home product as a basis. Into a mixing bowl sift 1 1/2 cups flour with 2 level teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. In another bowl beat the yolks of 2 eggs, add 1 1/4 cups milk and 1 cup cooked rice (cook a little longer than usual or press through a sieve). Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and beat well. Lastly, add the egg whites, beaten stiff, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. This serves eight.
These would be especially good on Sunday nights with jelly or syrup.
The Arkansas Democrat digital archives are a work in progress and are not yet available for many years prior to the 1990s. But I did find several Arkansas Democrat pieces in the late 1950s that referenced rice waffles, most often regarding promotional campaigns to get consumers to eat more rice, but no recipes.
The only 21st-century reference to rice waffles I could find in our archives was a 2002 "Ask Betty Crocker" column that suggested serving wild rice waffles for brunch in the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record.
My luck with calas was the same.
Foodtimeline.org describes calas as "deep-fried rice cakes, a specialty of New Orleans Creole cuisine. Classic street cuisine.
"Calas...'Belle Cala! Tout Chaud!' Under this cry was sold by the ancient Creole negro women in the French Quarter of New Orleans a delicious rice cake, which was eaten with the morning cup of Cafe au Lait."
According to a National Public Radio story, calas are believed to have originated in Africa and made their way to Louisiana with slaves from Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
An archive search for calas turned up a handful of recipes from the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. In 2009 former features managing editor and current freelance writer Jack Schnedler wrote about the calas on the brunch menu at Ashley's.
Milly Woods, believed to be the creator of Idea Alley, included a recipe for "calas (rice cakes)" in Down Idea Alley (as the column was known in
those days) in 1954 and one for Belles Calas that ran in 1956 (that column also featured a recipe for something called Nun's Sighs.) And Harriett Aldridge included Paul Prudhomme's recipe in a cover story about the famous chef in 1982.
Some calas recipes called for yeast, while others did not.
The recipe in The Picayune's Creole Cook Book 1901 edition for Rice Fritters doesn't even call for flour -- just rice, butter, egg yolks, orange or lemon extract and cinnamon.
While looking through the Picayune's cookbook I found a recipe for pancakes that include rice, which make a great alternative for those who don't want to fool with deep frying or who do not have a waffle iron.
The waffles and the griddle cakes are great ways to use leftover rice and make an excellent excuse for cooking extra. The rice adds texture and flavor, but isn't overwhelming.
I decided to give McDonald's recipe a try, but frying them as calas instead of waffles.
The calas reminded me very much of beignets, but with a heartier texture.
Calas are best saved for leisurely weekends, but rice waffles and rice pancakes are well on their way into my weeknight brinner (breakfast for dinner) rotation.
Rice Waffles
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup cooked white rice (slightly overcooked works best)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Fruit, for serving
Syrup, for serving
Into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk and rice. Pour milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until well blended. Stir in melted butter.
In a third bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into flour mixture. Some small pockets of egg white are OK. Cook batter in a hot waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
Serve warm with fruit and syrup.
Makes about 8 (4-inch) waffles.
Rice gives these pancakes a slightly nutty flavor.
Rice Griddle Cakes
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups milk
2 cups cooked white rice
Butter, for serving
Syrup, for serving
Separate the eggs. Beat whites to stiff peaks with an electric mixer. Set both aside.
Into a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Combine the sugar, milk and rice. Add wet mixture to flour mixture and stir well. Whisk in the egg yolks. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the beaten egg white, being careful not to deflate batter.
Cook batter by the 1/4 cup on a hot griddle or in a large nonstick skillet, turning once, until browned on both sides. Serve with butter and syrup.
Serve hot.
Makes about 12 (4-inch) pancakes.
Recipe adapted from The Picayune's Creole Cook Book 1901 edition
Calas
1 cup long-grain white rice
4 cups water
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided use
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
Oil, for frying
Confectioners' sugar, for serving
In a large pot, bring rice and 4 cups water to a boil; cook rice at a full boil for 20 minutes; drain. Cool slightly.
In a food processor, combine rice, warm water, yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar and process to a smooth paste. Transfer to a large bowl and let stand until doubled, about 1 hour.
Add the flour, baking powder, the remaining sugar and the eggs and beat until smooth. Cover and let stand for 1 hour, or refrigerate for up to 2 days.
When ready to cook, heat several inches of oil in a Dutch oven or other deep, heavy pot to 360 degrees.
Use a large spoon or scoop to drop dough by 2-tablespoonfuls into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 2 minutes, turn over and continue to fry until cooked through, about 11/2 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, remove the calas from the hot oil and transfer to paper towel-lined plates to drain briefly. Sprinkle the calas liberally with confectioners' sugar. Serve hot.
Makes about 30 calas.
Recipe adapted from Deep South: New Southern Cooking by Brad McDonald
Food on 04/05/2017