Cold Fennel Soup

My friend Christine is a fennel freak (not to be confused with fenugreek), and I daresay I am too. All summer long, I eat it raw or cooked, by itself or in combination, as in this soup. In Indian restaurants, you’ll often find the seeds in a little bowl as you are leaving—like parsley, they are nature’s great breath freshener. Christine makes the soup using small, young, tender fennel bulbs. Being in Provence, she adds the local brousse cheese, but I have made it in New York using fresh ricotta with comparable results.