"cheese fondue" news and stories

Cheese fondue is social food, with friends and family gathered around a steaming pot of gooey cheese, and taking turns dipping bread, spuds, meat, and vegetables into the rich mixture. But, says KitchenDaily expert chef Lauren Braun Costello, you don't need a fondue pot and a mix of classic Swiss cheeses to make a great fondue. Lauren relies on good old Cheddar cheese, which she combines with whole milk, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce, white pepper and salt, then adds corn starch to thicken it.

Instead of using a fondue pot, Lauren suggests pouring the cheese sauce into a bread bowl, which will keep the sauce warm for an hour. (She cuts the top off of a round loaf of sourdough, then pulls pieces of bread from the center, creating a bowl. The top can be cut up for dipping, too.)

Get Lauren Braun Costello's Quick Cheddar Cheese Fondue Recipe.

Get a Recipe for Classic Cheese Fondue.

Happy National Cheese Fondue Day!

Taken from the French word "fondre" (to melt), cheese fondue is a traditional Swiss dish utilizing Emmental and Gruyere cheese cooked in a pot with kirsch, white wine and seasonings until melted and creamy. The pot typically serves as the dinner table's centerpiece, with guests provided with elongated fondue forks to dip a variety of bites into the cheese, ranging from French bread to apple slices, pictured at left.

While being served at white-tablecloth restaurants certainly has its charm, there's also a certain satisfaction to be taken from the personal interaction with one's meal that fondue affords. Gushes blogger Simmer Till Done of her dish pictured at left, "I love that it's a one-pot meal, and prying open Sterno, and piling tart apples in bowls and drinking wine while I stir in the wine. I like forks flying, diving, and tangling under cheese." So gather some friends and forks, and make a night of her nutmeg-tinged cheese fondue.

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Never underestimate the mood-enhancing properties of cheese. From the melted Gruyère on French onion soup to the crisp layer of cheddar over macaroni and cheese, nothing beats a melted cheese dish to warm-up the body (and to revitalize and delight the soul during winter). Cheese meals, like fondue, boost both delight and pleasure thanks not only to their taste but also because they bring together friends and family.

Recently, we spoke with renowned chefs to find out their choices of American cheese for the ever-so-popular fondue. This week, we turn to a lesser known -- yet equally delicious -- Alpine cheese dish that's sure to stimulate joy around the dining table: Tartiflette. Hailing from the Haute-Savoie, the Alpine region of France bordering Switzerland and Italy, Tartiflette is a baked dish consisting of layers of sliced potatoes and onions, bacon, crème fraîche, and topped with melted Reblochon, a soft-ripened cow's milk cheese also from the region.

Cheese fondue, the Swiss communal dish of bread dipped in a pot of hot melted cheese, is the ideal antidote to the frosty cold dark winter. Its mere heat, rich taste, and pungent aroma warm up the body, comfort the soul, and awaken the palate. In addition, it's a shared meal that represents the very essence of conviviality. Shared with friends and family members, cheese fondue is the perfect remedy to fight off the "winter blues." And, one of the most exciting parts about making fondue is the creative process involved in selecting the cheeses.

Although most cheese fondue recipes tend to call for Swiss cheeses such as Emmentaler and Gruyère, there's no reason why Americans cannot choose stateside alternatives. In fact, in Switzerland, nearly every canton makes fondue using locally sourced cheeses. So what's an American cook to do when trying to use domestic cheeses in his or her fondue? In order to find out, we talked to two prominent U.S. chefs who specialize in melted cheeses: Ralf Kuettel from New York's Trestle on Tenth and Terrance Brennan, who runs restaurants such as New York's Artisanal and Picholine and Bellevue's Artisanal Brasserie and The Artisanal Table Pizzeria Enoteca, both just outside of Seattle.

Emmental and Gruyère are the usual suspects when choosing cheeses for fondue. Occasionally, people use Appenzeller, Comté, Beaufort, and Tête de Moine. When I make cheese fondue, I like to try cheeses that I've never used before - experiment! Cheeses that work well in a fondue are dense creamy cow's milk Alpine cheeses, like the ones mentioned above.

Some people strongly believe that a fondue should consist of only one cheese. I'm not from that school of thought. In fact, I think it's a good idea to have one cheese be the base from which other cheeses are chosen. For example, if I chose Comté to be the main cheese in my fondue, I might want another cheese, such as Erguel Jurakäse, that has a more spicy flavor. The idea is to melt together a variety of three or 4 cheeses that create a well balanced flavor. In other words, use a larger piece of a more traditional "fondue cheese," like Emmental and Gruyère, and then, add to it.

After the jump, find out 5 suggested full-flavored cheeses you can add to your fondue.