Origin Story
How a simple, delicious fritter can hold hundreds of years of history and the resilience of a people.
By Ozoz Sokoh
Illustrations by Florencio Zavala
Language is a powerful preserver of culture, making it possible to trace something’s origin, follow its journey, and see connections along the way. Take, for instance, àkàrà, a Nigerian fritter with a Yoruba name made from black-eyed peas, or cowpeas. Similar fritters exist in countries and cultures from West Africa through the Caribbean to South, Central, and North America—a foodway forged by the transatlantic enslavement of Africans beginning in the 15th century. Jamaican akkra, akkra funfun in Benin Republic, Haitian accras pois nèg, acras de pois z’yeux noir in Guadeloupe, Brazilian acarajé, cala of Aruba, kala of Curaçao, New Orleans’ calas, and many others—all of them fried fritters made from beans or rice with West African origins.
Àkàrà…akkra…accras…kara…kala…cala…calas. The resemblance is easy to see. The differences may be the result of metathesis and simplification (where àkàrà becomes akkra); variations in dialects, such that letters are swapped (the k in akkra becoming c in accras); and phonological changes like the removal of the initial vowel (such that àkàrà becomes kara). Regardless of the linguistic phenomena at work, àkàrà’s journey tells a story bigger than its culinary evolution: In spite of the struggles, pain, and confusion of being torn from their homelands, enslaved people preserved not only the fritter but also its name. As a result, today we can reflect on the heritage shared among people where àkàrà exists in different forms—here, we focus on the variations made from beans and rice—and their use of language as resistance.
Acara Niébé — also known as acara or cara(s) de niébé
Senegal
Savory fritters, often of black-eyed beans. These popular street bites are served with sosu kaani, a spicy sauce made of Scotch bonnet peppers, and often baguettes to make sandwiches.
Akara-Kuru — also known as rice akara
Sierra Leone
Sweet fritters made of banana puree thickened with rice flour and seasoned with nutmeg. They are popular for breakfast, lunch, and as a snack, on their own or as part of “fry fry,” which includes fried plantains, fried sweet potatoes, stew, and protein—eggs, fish, or chicken.
Akkra Fun Fun — also known as àkàrà
Benin
Savory fritters made from dried white beans, seasoned with onions and peppers.
Àkàrà — also known as àkàrà
Nigeria
Savory fritters made of cowpeas, commonly black-eyed beans. In the 1843 tome A Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language, compiled by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, àkàrà is defined as “bread; cake, of which latter there are various kinds.” A popular street food, it is sold in the mornings and evenings but is also made at home, especially for breakfast on Saturdays. A variety of àkàrà exists across regions, cooked in neutral or red palm oil, some plain, others mixed with seafood. Àkàrà is enjoyed with bread or paps and porridges, and in Lagos, as part of a quartet of street food delights including fried plantain, fried yam, and fried sweet potatoes, served with a pepper sauce and sometimes a protein.
Calas
Louisiana
A Creole fritter of cooked rice, sugar, and spices. Calas was sold as street food in historic New Orleans, popular on Sunday mornings. The name is likely a derivative of kara/kala/cala. One of the earliest documented recipes is in the 1901 Picayune Creole Cook Book, published by the Times-Picayune Publishing Company.
Frituras de Canita — also known as bollitos de carita
Cuba
Made with black-eyed beans and seasoned with garlic and ground black pepper. These savory fritters are popular in Cuba and Cuban communities around the world. According to Mary Urrutia Randelman in Memories of a Cuban Kitchen, these fritters have been documented in Cuban cooking manuals via Creole recipes since the 1850s. “Caritas” (slang for “little face”) refers to the look of black-eyed beans and is likely linguistically related to àkàrà.
Ackra — also known as akkra
Jamiaca
Savory fritters made with skinned black-eyed beans. In the 1893 cookbook Classic Jamaican Cooking: Traditional Recipes and Herbal Remedies by Caroline Sullivan these fritters are described as ackra cakes.
Acras de Pois Z’yeuxnoir — also known as acras créoles
Martinique and Guadeloupe
One of several types of acras popular across the Caribbean islands, served as appetizers. Traditionally, the fritters were served on Good Friday, but they are now enjoyed year-round.
Accras Pois Inconnus — also known as accras pois nég (akra pwa nég)
Haiti
Made with dried beans or cowpeas and fresh string beans. These savory fritters are often paired with salad greens and some pikliz—fresh, spiced pickled carrots, cabbage, onions.
Acarajé — also known as cara, acara, and carajé
Brazil
Savory fritters, fried in azeite de dendê, or red palm oil. Across Brazil, especially in Bahia, acarajé is both street food and an offering in Candomblé, a syncretic religion combining African traditions and Catholicism. The way acarajé is served seems to pay tribute to àkàrà’s dictionary definition as “bread”—each one is fairly large, like a bread bun, cut in half and stuffed with sauces and salads.
