Loup Flambé au Fenouil

From picnic barbecues to select restaurants, fresh fish grilled over fennel twigs until the skin is crisp and slightly charred is a summer tradition along the Riviera. Wild fennel is one of the many aromatic herbs of the maquis, the underbrush that carpets the mountains, perfuming not only the hillsides but also the local bistros. Both herb- and anise-flavored liquors such as Pernod add to the ensemble. Sea bass (known as loup de mer locally and as bar elsewhere) is highly prized for grilli