Panisse is the Marseillais chickpea-flour fritter, a thick batter set cold then sliced and deep-fried until crisp outside and creamy within, served in a paper cone with sea salt and pepper.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Panisse arrived in Marseille with the Italian and Ligurian dockworkers from Genoa across the 19th century, the cheap chickpea-flour street snack of the workers' lunch. Chez Magali at the L'Estaque port has fried panisse since 1947 in the family kiosk, and the dish has stayed a working-class fast food eaten standing in a paper cone with a glass of pastis. The Marche des Capucins counters fry them all day as quick lunch.
Tip from the editors. The batter must be stirred without stopping or it forms lumps; if it does, beat it hard with a whisk before pouring into the tray.
Chez Magali in Marseille's L'Estaque port serves fried chichis and panisses by the dozen since 1947, paper cones eaten on the beachfront seawall.
Why locals love it: Tourists rarely make it to L'Estaque port; locals have eaten Magali's chichis here for 78 years.
Tip: Cash only; chichis straight from the oil, panisses by the dozen in a paper cone.
Marche des Capucins in Marseille's 1er Noailles runs all day with halal butchers, Tunisian pastries and counter-food stalls, cheapest fresh fast lunch.
Try: Maghrebi snacks and produce-stand lunch
Tip: Cash is faster than card; arrive before noon for the freshest fish.
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