About Cheese Fondue

Cheese fondue is a perennial dish, enjoying periodic revivals but never completely out of favor. Fondue can be gussied up as a chocolate or marshmallow dessert with cake and fruit, but its most basic form is cheese, wine and bread. Fondue is perfect for cold weather or casual fireside meals. It also works well for buffet spreads. Get out those pots and forks and melt some cheese!

History

SWISS CHEESE FONDUE

The oldest mention of a fondue-like dish is in Homer's Iliad, using wine, grated goat's cheese and white flour. The word "fondue" comes from the French verb "fondre," meaning "to melt." What we think of today as fondue originated many centuries ago in Switzerland; it is usually thought of as Swiss fondue. It undoubtedly originated with people in the Alps trying to get through a cold winter with few resources. There are varying stories about the invention of fondue, but the truth is that it was a practical way to make use of the limited ingredients available in winter, stale bread, hard cheese and wine. It was a great way to turn hardened cheese and dry bread into a warm and satisfying meal. It still is.

Function

The ultimate function of fondue is to transform pantry leavings into warm and tasty sustenance. Fondue also is the logical answer to the ingredients of raclette once they have aged. The Swiss dish of raclette is cheese melted over the fire and then scraped onto boiled potatoes and pickles. Once you've run out of potatoes and pickles, and the cheese has gotten too hard to melt, fondue is your answer. Fondue uses cheese that has gotten too stale to melt properly and bread that has dried out and become inedible. It uses hot wine to melt the hardened cheese and turn it into a sauce. The sauce then softens the bread enough to make it edible.
Fondue also is a very practical way to eat in cold weather. Instead of individual dishes of melted cheese, which would cool rather quickly, fondue allows everyone to eat from one pot, which remains over the fire and stays warm.

Types

BEEF FONDUE

The classic Swiss fondue is made from Emmentaler and Gruyere cheese, Swiss white wine and kirschwasser. That said, fondue has become a generic term for anything that involves using long forks to dip things into a hot sauce. There are all kinds of cheese fondues, chocolate fondues, marshmallow fondues, spaghetti sauce fondues. There is even an oil version, which uses hot oil to cook the small pieces of meat dipped by the diners. The Chinese have the centuries old tradition of the Chrysanthemum Pot, which is heated and contains broth into which diners dip meats and vegetables to cook. Again, there are various stories about how they were invented, but each probably had multiple points of origin.

Geography

ITALIAN FONDUTA

Cheese fondue is thought of as the classic Swiss concoction we described above, but in reality it varies from canton to canton within Switzerland. There are also various forms found all over the Alps. Each uses the cheeses and wines of its location. The French might use comté savoyard, beaufort, or emmental. The Italians would typically use fontina. The beef fondue is thought to be a product of French grape pickers many centuries ago. Again, necessity is the mother of invention, so geography makes many changes in fondue, some subtle, some not.

Potential

Many families worry about the lack of time spent together as a family. Fondue is a great excuse for a family dinner, everyone gathered around the table sharing the same pot. Even the preparation can be a family enterprise, with one person grating cheese, another cutting bread, and someone else setting the table. This also holds true for a casual party. Strangers quickly become friends as they join in preparing the meal, then eat it from the same pot.
Also, today's chefs use old classic recipes as springboards for their imaginations. There's no reason home cooks can't do the same thing. Take the old recipes and substitute your family's favorite ingredients. You may discover a new fondue that hasn't been seen before. Meanwhile, you have the potential to create memories that your family and friends will carry forever.