Calas are Louisiana rice cakes historically sold by street vendors in New Orleans.
Calas are made from cooked rice mixed with flour, sugar, yeast, and sometimes spices. The mixture is shaped or spooned into portions and fried, producing a crisp exterior and soft interior. They are traditionally served hot and may be dusted with sugar.
The food has deep connections to New Orleans’s African American and Creole communities. Women known as calas vendors sold the fried rice cakes in the city, sometimes carrying them in baskets and announcing their presence through a characteristic call. This street-vending tradition helped make calas part of New Orleans food history.
Calas are often compared with beignets because both are fried pastries, but rice is the defining ingredient in calas. Their use of leftover cooked rice also illustrates the practical, resourceful character of many Louisiana food traditions.