Mastering The Art Of Fondue: A Step-By-Step Guide

Fondue is a fun and indulgent dish, perfect for a dinner party or date night. It originated in Switzerland as a way to feed families inexpensively, using stale bread and cheese. Now, it's a decadent dish, often served as a celebratory meal.

The key to a good fondue is the cheese—it should be good-quality, buttery, and creamy, melting smoothly. The best cheeses for fondue include fontina, Gruyère, and gouda, though there are many other options, including Swiss cheeses like Emmentaler, Raclette, and Appenzeller. To make the fondue, grate the cheese, toss it with cornstarch, and slowly add it to a pot of heated wine, garlic, and lemon juice, stirring constantly.

Fondue is served with a variety of dippers, including bread, vegetables, cured meats, and fruit. It's important to cut the dippers into bite-sized pieces so they can easily be dipped into the fondue pot.

Fondue equipment

The equipment you will need to make and serve fondue depends on the type of fondue you are making. The most common type of fondue is cheese fondue, but you can also make chocolate fondue, broth fondue, or hot oil fondue. Here is a list of the equipment you will need for each type:

Cheese Fondue

• A small enamel-lined Dutch oven with a heavy bottom for melting the cheese.
• A fondue pot to keep the cheese warm while serving. This can be a traditional ceramic or cast-iron pot warmed with candles, gel fuel, or electricity, or a modern electric fondue pot with temperature control.
• Fondue forks with long handles for piercing the dippers and dragging them through the cheese.
• Regular appetizer forks for eating the dipped food.
• Small appetizer plates for each guest.
• Large platters or boards for serving various dippers.

Chocolate Fondue

• A heavy-bottomed pot for melting the chocolate.
• A heat source such as a stove or electric burner.
• Fondue forks or skewers for dipping.
• Dippers such as marshmallows, pretzels, and strawberries.

Broth Fondue

• A fondue pot.
• A heat source such as an electric burner or hot pot.
• Fondue forks or skewers for dipping.
• Dippers such as meat, vegetables, or frozen foods.

Hot Oil Fondue

• An electric fondue pot with a temperature control setting.
• Oil such as vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.
• Raw meats and frozen foods for dipping.
• Fondue forks or skewers for dipping.

Fondue recipes

Fondue is a fun and communal dish, perfect for a celebration or a dinner party. It is a great way to socialise and enjoy a variety of delicious foods. The best cheese for fondue is a buttery, creamy cheese that melts smoothly. The best all-around cheeses for fondue are fontina, Gruyère, and gouda. For a classic Swiss fondue, a mix of traditional, firm mountain-style cheeses is best: Gruyère, Swiss cheese, and gouda.

Cheese Fondue Recipes

• Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue: This is a velvety smooth blend of Gruyère, white wine, cracked black pepper and nutmeg.
• Zesty Cheddar Fondue: Filled with sharp cheddar, onions, garlic and cilantro, this pairs well with bread and apples.
• Macaroni & Cheese Fondue: A mix of Fontina, Cheddar, and Swiss cheese, with pasta added for an extra hearty dip.
• Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue: Transform one of everyone's favourite dips into a melty cheese fondue, great with bread and vegetables.
• Classic Beer Cheese Fondue: This pairs fantastically with pretzels, chips, bread or vegetable dippers.

Oil and Broth Fondue Recipes

If you want to add a main course to your fondue party, you can add a pot of hot oil or broth to cook meat in. Here are some ideas for oil and broth fondue:

• Hot Oil Fondue: This is a classic recipe for deep-frying your favourite meats and breaded foods at the table.
• Coq Au Vin Fondue: Add some flavours to the broth with this recipe.

Dessert Fondue Recipes

For a sweet treat, try one of these dessert fondue recipes:

• Chocolate Fondue: A simple and delicious two-ingredient dark chocolate fondue.
• Caramel Fondue: Dip sliced apples, pears, and pound cake into warm caramel fondue.

Fondue Dippers

The possibilities for fondue dippers are endless! Here are some ideas:

• Bread: French bread, sourdough, bagels, pumpernickel, crostini, pretzels, croutons, and tortilla chips.
• Vegetables: Broccoli florets, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, and potatoes.
• Fruit: Apples, pears, grapes, nectarines, persimmon, and strawberries.
• Meat and Fish: Cured meats such as prosciutto, salami, and pepperoni. Cooked sausages, shrimp, chicken, and thinly sliced steak.

Fondue dippers

When it comes to fondue dippers, the options are endless! Here are some ideas to get you started:

Breads and Crackers

Bread is a classic dipper and for good reason—it's perfect for soaking up all that cheesy goodness. Go for a crusty loaf, like sourdough, French bread, or a baguette, and cut it into bite-sized cubes. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even make your own bread from scratch. Other options include rye bread, pumpernickel bread, brioche, whole wheat bread, olive bread, focaccia bread, ciabatta bread, naan, and challah. Breadsticks, bagels, English muffins, tortillas, and crackers can also be used for dipping. If you're feeling indulgent, try dipping pretzels or soft pretzel bites into your fondue.

Fruits and Vegetables

For a refreshing contrast to the rich cheese, try dipping crisp, tart Granny Smith apples or Bosc pears into your fondue. Other fruit options include grapes and strawberries. As for vegetables, asparagus, zucchini, artichoke hearts, mini sweet peppers, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, baby potatoes, and even French fries all make excellent dippers. You can serve your veggies raw, steamed, roasted, or pickled—whatever suits your taste.

Meats

If you're looking for something more substantial, bite-sized pieces of cooked meat can be a great addition to your fondue spread. Try marinated sirloin, filet mignon, herb-roasted chicken breast, prime rib, mini meatballs, beef jerky, miniature smoked sausages, duck breast, or ham. Cured meats like prosciutto, salami, chorizo, and soppressata are also excellent choices and provide a nice salty contrast to the cheese.

Seafood

For a fancy touch, add some seafood to your fondue spread. Poached shrimp, salmon, lobster tail, crab legs, and ahi tuna are all delicious options. Just be sure to cook your seafood thoroughly before dipping.

Other Ideas

If you're feeling creative, there are endless possibilities for fondue dippers. Potstickers, pickles, pasta (especially ravioli), roasted jalapeño peppers, and even tater tots can be unexpected but delicious additions to your fondue party.

Fondue etiquette

Fondue is a communal dining experience, so it's important to be mindful of your fellow diners and follow some basic rules of etiquette. Here are some dos and don'ts to keep in mind when enjoying fondue:

Dos:

• Be patient and wait for your turn to dip your food into the pot. Avoid overcrowding the pot or dipping your fork in front of someone else.
• Stir the fondue in a clockwise or figure-eight motion to keep the cheese homogenized and prevent it from burning or sticking to the pot.
• Use the long, slender fondue forks provided to spear your food and dip it into the pot.
• Place your dipped food on a small plate and then use your regular fork to eat it. This avoids putting your mouth on the fondue fork that goes back into the communal pot.
• Twirl your fondue fork three times above the pot to avoid dripping and limit waste.
• If a piece of food falls off your fork into the pot, leave it and continue dipping with a new piece.

Don'ts:

• Double-dip! This is not only unhygienic but also considered rude and may spread oral bacteria.
• Eat directly from the fondue fork. Aside from hygiene concerns, the cheese is very hot, and you could burn yourself.
• Scrape the bottom of the fondue pot with your fork, as this could damage the cooking pot.
• Overload your fork with food, as this could cause it to fall off into the pot.
• Drink anything but white wine, tea, or kirsch with your fondue, as Swiss lore warns that other drinks will cause the cheese to coagulate and give you indigestion.
• Follow cheese fondue with chocolate fondue, as this may send you into a cholesterol coma. Instead, end your meal with fresh pineapple to aid digestion.

Fondue history

Fondue, derived from the French word "fondre", meaning "to melt", is said to have originated in the French and Swiss regions of the Alps in the 1800s. The dish was born out of necessity, as a way for farmers and peasants to use their stale bread and leftover cheese. They would melt the cheese and dip the bread in it, creating a warm and satisfying meal during the winter months when fresh food was not readily available.

In the 19th century, wine was added to the melted cheese to create a more complex flavour. In the 20th century, other variations were introduced, such as chocolate fondue, where fruits and marshmallows are dipped in melted chocolate, and meat fondue, where pieces of raw meat are cooked in hot oil or broth.

Fondue became popular in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, often being served at dinner parties. The Swiss Cheese Union campaigned to make fondue the national dish of Switzerland in the 1930s, and it has since become a celebratory dish and a special menu item at restaurants worldwide, especially in winter.

The actual modern style of cheese fondue was created in lowland Switzerland in the second half of the 19th century. While it may have been inspired by the peasant version, it was a dish for wealthy town-dwellers, as the amount of Gruyere cheese required for fondue was not affordable for everyone.

Frequently asked questions