Making Fontina Cheese Fondue: A Tasty Guide

Fontina is a popular choice of cheese for making fondue, and with good reason. Fontina is a creamy, funky, Alpine cheese that makes for a rich, indulgent fondue. To make a classic fondue with fontina cheese, you'll need to grate the cheese and slowly add it to a mixture of wine, flour, and spices, stirring constantly until you have a smooth, creamy texture. You can then transfer the fondue to a serving dish and enjoy with bread, meat, vegetables, or fruit.

How to Make Fondue with Fontina Cheese

How to grate and prepare the fontina cheese

Fontina cheese is a semi-soft, cow's milk cheese that originated in Italy. It has a creamy, light yellow colour with a thin, pale orange rind. The cheese has a mild and nutty flavour, with younger Fontina being used as a table cheese and older Fontina used for grating. When preparing Fontina cheese for fondue, it is important to grate the cheese to ensure quicker melting and a smooth fondue. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to grate and prepare Fontina cheese for the perfect fondue:

Step 1: Chilling the Cheese

Before grating Fontina cheese, it is recommended to chill it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up. This technique is especially useful when dealing with soft cheeses, as it makes the grating process easier and less messy. Chilling the cheese will make it firmer without freezing it, ensuring it can still be grated effectively.

Step 2: Grating the Cheese

Once the cheese is slightly firmed, you can begin grating it. Use a grater blade attachment on your food processor for a quick and efficient grating process. If you don't have a food processor, you can use the coarse side of a box grater or a coarse microplane grater. Grate all the cheese you need for your fondue and set it aside.

Step 3: Mixing with Cornstarch

Before adding the cheese to your fondue pot, it is important to mix the grated cheese with cornstarch. Cornstarch helps to thicken the fondue and prevents the cheese from clumping. Make sure to toss the cheese with cornstarch thoroughly until all pieces are coated.

Step 4: Melting the Cheese

Now, you can begin melting the cheese to create your fondue. In a stove-safe fondue pot or a large heavy saucepan, bring your chosen liquid (such as wine or milk) to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring well between each addition to ensure a smooth and creamy fondue. Stir constantly and wait for each addition of cheese to melt before adding more.

Step 5: Adding Final Ingredients

Once all the cheese has melted and you have a smooth fondue, you can add any final ingredients such as brandy, mustard, or nutmeg. These ingredients will enhance the flavour of your fondue.

Step 6: Serving the Fondue

Prepare an assortment of bite-sized dipping foods, such as bread cubes, apples, vegetables, or meat. Transfer your fondue to a fondue pot if you haven't already done so, and place it in the centre of your table. Serve the fondue immediately while it's hot and enjoy dipping with your chosen foods!

The best wine to use for the fondue

When making fondue with fontina cheese, it's important to use a good-quality, dry white wine that is high in acid. The wine's acidity will help to prevent the cheese from clumping together and will give the fondue a smooth texture.

The best wines to use are Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, or an unoaked Chardonnay. You could also try a dry or off-dry Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, or Chenin Blanc.

When selecting a wine, opt for one that you would happily drink with dinner—while you don't need to break the bank, it's important to remember that the wine's flavour will directly impact the flavour of the fondue.

How to serve and eat the fondue

Once your fontina cheese fondue is ready, transfer it to a fondue pot to keep it warm and preserve its consistency. If you don't have a fondue pot, you can use a regular pot, but you'll need to keep rewarming it on the stove.

To keep the fondue at the right temperature and consistency, use a special electric fondue set or one with an alcohol stove.

For serving, arrange an assortment of bite-sized dipping foods on a platter. You can use bread cubes, meat, boiled baby potatoes, sliced fruits like apples and pears, vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, steamed asparagus, and crackers, chips or pretzels.

You can also pour the fondue over meat as a sauce or enjoy it with polenta, especially in mountain resorts and on ski slopes as they do in Italy.

Use fondue forks or wooden skewers to dip your chosen food into the communal pot of fondue.

If you're feeling adventurous, try adding some extra ingredients to your fondue. A splash of brandy, cognac, or cherry brandy will add a nice flavour, or you could add some nutmeg, salt, or pepper to taste.

Remember to keep the fondue warm and stir it occasionally to prevent it from clumping. Enjoy!

What to dip into the fondue

Now that you've made your fontina cheese fondue, it's time to think about what to dip into it. Here are some ideas:

Bread

Bread is a classic choice for dipping into fondue. Go for a crusty French bread or baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes, for the perfect combination of crispy exterior and soft interior. Sourdough, sourdough, and pumpernickel are all great options, too. If you're feeling ambitious, you could even try making your own bread!

Fruit

The natural sweetness of fruit goes surprisingly well with the savoury, creamy cheese. Try dipping crisp, tart Granny Smith apples or Bosc pears, which have nutmeg and cinnamon undertones that complement the spices often found in fondue. Grapes are another option, especially paired with gorgonzola and pistachios.

Vegetables

Vegetables are a great way to add a bit of freshness to your fondue feast. Try lightly steamed broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or bell peppers. If you're short on time, you can also dip these vegetables raw. Cherry tomatoes and carrots are other crunchy, tasty options.

Meat

Meat and cheese are a classic combination, and fondue is no exception. Try dipping cooked sliced hot sausage, meatballs, cured meats like prosciutto, salami, soppressata, or chorizo, or strips of juicy filet mignon. For a blank canvas that will take on the flavours of the cheese and spices, add some poached chicken.

Potatoes

Small roasted potatoes or fingerling potatoes are perfect for dipping into fondue. If you're short on time, potato chips or tater tots will also do the trick!

Other Options

Pickles, especially cornichons, are a surprisingly addictive option for fondue dipping. If you're feeling adventurous, try dipping large pasta shapes like shells or fusilli, shrimp, or even soft pretzel bites.

The history of the dish

Fontina cheese has been produced in the Aosta Valley, in the Alps, since the 12th century. The cheese is made from cow's milk and has a milk fat content of around 45%. It has a creamy, mild, savoury and nutty flavour, with the nuttiness increasing as the cheese ages. Fontina produced in the EU can be identified by a consortium stamp of the Matterhorn.

Fontuta alla Valdostana, or Fondue à la valdôtaine, is a traditional dish from the Aosta Valley that uses Fontina cheese. The recipe involves whipping the cheese with milk, eggs, and truffles. The dish is a great classic of Italian cuisine and is typically enjoyed in winter, in front of a fireplace.

The name Fontina seems to come from a production mountain pasture called Fontin, or the village of Fontinaz. However, the name could also derive from the ancient French term "fontis" or "fondis", indicating the cheese's ability to melt with heat.

The first mention of Fontina cheese was in a Latin document from 1270. In 1892, Pellegrino Artusi described the dish as "one of the tastiest in Italy" in his cooking manual.

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