The Lowcountry's version of Calas--Rice Flour Puffs
If you go to New Orleans you'll encounter a spicy sweet rice fritter deep fried a golden brown & dusted with confectioner's sugar--it's called Calas. The Louisiana version uses wheat flour and cooked rice. In Charleston and Savannah there was also a rice fritter, two as a matter of fact--one a savory item employing boiled rice--one a fritter made of rice flour. This latter item was called a rice flour puff, and it is a light surprisingly refined crispy fritter that was either dipped in lemon juice, dusted with confectioner's sugar, or dunked in a sugared wine sauce.
The recipe supplied by Sarah Rutledge in The Carolina Housewife (1847) contains no warning about how difficult it is to get the preparation right. I can understand why this never became a street food, like the New Orleans calas. It takes extraordinary temperature control, and judgement about when to incorporation the egg foam into the batter.
RICE FLOUR PUFFS
One pint of rice flour, one pint and one gill of milk, and four eggs; boil the milk, and, while hot, stir into it gradually the flour; then add the eggs, which must be first beaten very light; drop the batter from a spoon into boiling lard; let the puffs boil until quite brown. To be eaten with sugar and wine, or with lemon juice.
What interests me about the recipe is the absence of sugar in the formula. There is a decided preference for the basic flavor of the grain in the Lowcountry when something is fried. One can sugar afterwards if one has a sweet tooth, or not.
There is a tradition of rice flour fritters in Puerto Rico and other of the Caribbean islands--but the Almojabanas there incorporation grated cheese or other flavoring elements (bits of hot pepper, shredded coconut, curry leaves) into the batter, and the batter uses few eggs and those not whipped. The Lowcountry version is more about fine crispy texture and caramelized rice taste.
At any rate, I think rice flour puffs are a traditional Lowcountry dish that has languished and invites a revival--and if one wants to go the island route and incorporate additional flavors into the puff, you are, of course, free to do so. (And try frying them in bene oil.)
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