Oh, I know, I can hear the groans and mumblings about what year is this. . .1974? But fondue made a comeback some years ago and it's still popular. Just look at restaurant chains like The Melting Pot. There are recent cookbooks that offer tasty variations like French Onion Soup Fondue or Bloody Mary Fondue. And the best part is that if you take a spin around a few yard sales or Goodwill stores chances are you can pick up a fondue set for cheap. Yes, I've seen fancy-shmancy new ones in the stores too if you must get the best, but honestly it's not something I use all that often so my $4 score from a yard sale does just fine:)
I have fond memories of my mother making fondue. I know she did a cheese one but my favorite was when we would do the Mongolian Hot Pot one. From Wikipedia:
Fondue chinoise (lit. "Chinese fondue") is a common name for hot pot, where meat and vegetables are cooked in a shared pot of broth. Various sauces are provided on the side. Uniquely the meal is finished off when all the diners have finished cooking their ingredients by sharing out the broth, which now contains an amalgam of all of the flavors from the earlier ingredients.
Interactive dining! And everyone gets what they want. So, let's take a dip in the fondue pot!
Some interesting history (once again from Wikipedia):
The earliest known recipe for cheese fondue as we know it today comes from a 1699 book published in Zurich, under the name "Käss mit Wein zu kochen" "to cook cheese with wine".[4] It calls for grated or cut-up cheese to be melted with wine, and for bread to be dipped in it.
However, the name "cheese fondue", until the late 19th century, referred to a preparation including eggs and cheese, as in la Chapelle's 1735 Fonduë de Fromage, aux Truffes Fraiches[2] and Brillat-Savarin's 1834 recipe;[5] it was something between scrambled eggs with cheese and a cheese soufflé.[6] Variations included cream ("à la genevoise") and truffles ("à la piémontaise") in addition to eggs; and also what we now call "raclette" ("fondue valaisanne").[7]
Being a cheese lover the first fondue I ever made was indeed a cheese fondue. I followed this classic recipe from one of my mom's cookbooks:
Fondues From Around The World by Eva and Ulrich Klever. It's from the 80's.
Neuchâtel Fondue
1/2 clove garlic
1 lb Gruyere cheese
8 oz Emmentaler cheese
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tblsp kirsch (I used a pear brandy)
a few grinds of fresh black pepper
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
My fondue pot is an enameled cast iron one which is great because I was able to make this on the stovetop then transfer to the holder on the table with a pot of Sterno going underneath it to keep it warm.
Rub the inside of the pot with the cut surface of the garlic. Discard or save for soup stock etc. Coarsely grate the cheeses then mix them in the pot. Add wine, lemon juice, and cornstarch and stir over medium heat until the cheese melts. Stir with a wooden spoon in a figure 8 motion to keep the cheese from getting stringy.
Stir in the kirsch, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook a bit longer until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Transfer to the table holder and keep at a simmer.
Serve with cubes of bread, bite-sized chunks of cooked kielbasa or summer sausage. Dunk the bread/sausage chunks with the fondue forks and stir to coat. Transfer to small plates and eat.
Sides to serve with fondue are things like small baby gherkins (pickles), or sauerkraut. You can also serve raw veggies which can be eaten alone, or also dipped into the cheese.
Now an experienced fondue eater knows that each time you dunk you should give the pot a good stir. This keeps the fondue creamy and smooth.
If a man loses his bread in the fondue pot tradition is that he buys a round of drinks for the table.
If a woman loses her bread in the fondue she has to kiss her neighbors.
It is also customary to drink the unused kirsch or brandy along with the fondue. What's not to like about that?
Fun stuff eh?
Ok, let's look at some variations on the classic cheese fondue.
Beer Fondue aka Bavarian Fondue
1 cup Pilsner beer
1/2 cup dark beer
1 lb 5 oz Cheshire or Cheddar cheese
1 tblsp cornstarch
2 tblsp water
1 tblsp fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper
2 tblsp German brandy
Bring beer to boil in fondue pot, stirring constantly. Cut cheese into cubes and add to beer a handful at a time, stirring until melted. Mix cornstarch with the water until smooth. Stir into cheese mixture with lemon juice. Continue cooking until bubbly. Transfer to warmer and stir in pepper and brandy.
Italian Fonduta
11 oz Provolone cheese
11 oz Gorgonzola cheese
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1 tblsp butter
salt
freshly ground white pepper
Chop cheese, mix with milk, and let soak for 4 hours.
Beat eggs. Drain cheese, discarding the milk. Mix cheese with eggs and butter in the fondue pot and heat gently, stirring; the cheese should melt but do not boil or the eggs will curdle. Season with salt and pepper. When the mixture is thick and smooth, transfer to a very gentle candle warmer. Dunk cubes of bread or thick mushroom slices.
All of the above are from the cookbook noted above.
Now, let's look at some more modern recipes.
These are from Not Your Mother's Fondue by Hallie Harron.
Hot Spinach Fondue
This is a good one for fans of spinach dip!
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, cubed
6 oz smoked Monterey Jack cheese, cubed
2 cups sour cream
1 cup dry white wine
1 large bunch scallions, chopped
zest of 1 large lemon
2 tblsp fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
Place the spinach, cheeses, sour cream, wine, scallions, lemon zest, and lemon juice in fondue pot and heat over low heat for 5-8 minutes, until the mixture becomes blended and creamy.
Season with the cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Serve immediately over low heat.
Suggested dippers: small cooked shrimp, bread sticks, pretzels, and raw veggies.
Since I teased it in the opening of this diary I suppose I better include it!
French Onion Soup Fondue
3 tblsp unsalted butter
2 medium-size Walla Walla or other sweet onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp sugar
sea salt & black pepper to taste
2 cups white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
3 cups chicken or beef broth
2 tblsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water or additional wine
Heat the butter in a large fondue pot over medium-low heat. Saute the onions in the butter for 3 minutes. Stir in the sugar and season generously with salt & pepper. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the wine, bay leaf, and thyme and heat to a simmer. Reduce the heat to very low and cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until almost all of the wine has evaporated and the onions are tender.
Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water (or wine) and whisk the mixture into the broth until the fondue has slightly thickened. Serve over low heat.
Dippers: bread rounds sprinkled with Gruyere cheese and toasted, plain toasted bread, untoasted baguette cubes.
Have some soup bowls ready so that you can ladle the rest of the broth into them to eat after the bread is gone.
Ok, I hope I have renewed your interest in fondue! Wait, you want sweet fondue? Well, that will have to wait, after all I have plenty more diaries to write and chocolate fondue and other sweet treats really deserve to have their own tribute:) Stay tuned: Let's Fondue! Part the Second will deliver the chocolate!!