Trevor Felch
Gaspar Brasserie's Crispy Chickpea Panisse Cakes
The Southern French snack, panisse, now has its moment in the (California) sun as the excellent and only vegetarian main dish during lunch and dinner at
Gaspar, the four month old
très French brasserie in FiDi.
To understand panisse, think polenta except with the cornmeal swapped for chickpea flour. The chickpea flour gets whisked together with hot water and olive oil into a batter, then arranged into spheres of different sizes and swiftly skillet fried at high heat to achieve that delightful juxtaposition of a crisp on the verge of char and slightly sweet exterior to a pillowy smooth yet not quite creamy body. Each cake looks like a miniature cornbread muffin and is fully reminiscent of polenta’s texture with none of its frequent bland taste.
No, panisse is not just fried hummus. But it does have that same rustic nuttiness of chickpeas, and is often served grilled or fried as a snack, like a healthier spin on French fries.
Gaspar serves panisse as an entree instead of an opener ($17 at lunch, $19 at dinner). The trio of cakes are garnished by a riff on mirepoix with precisely cut lightly grilled spring onions and green (!) chickpeas, adding crunch and color to the proceedings. Both play perfectly with the panisse, enjoyed on their own as separate bites coated in the velvety onion soubise sauce (an onion-enriched variation of béchamel) or as a do-it-yourself addition to the cakes. A showering of marinated sheep’s milk feta cheese provides some funk and a fun creamy meets creamy element when eaten with the cakes’ interior. It’s a strong, complete dish, rounded out nicely with a gentle jolt of spice courtesy of an espelette pepper dusting.
Start the meal with the towering salad of watermelon and tomatoes of various vibrant colors, laced with marjoram and marinated sheep’s feta, sitting in a pool of yellow tomato vinaigrette with a good acidic kick.
A Bandol rosé is panisse’s natural companion. Or get the Banane and other cocktails,
featured on SFoodie earlier in the summer. The belle époque interior screams for cocktail-sipping and seems more Parisian than most bistros I’ve been to in Paris, until you step outside and the cable car is three blocks away.
185 Sutter; 576-8800.