"fondue" news and stories

Happy National Fondue Month!

Leave it to a cheese lover to make a meal out of cheese. Derived from the French term "fondre" (to melt), fondue indicates a meal formed around food cooked in a communal pot, which also often serves as the centerpiece of the table. What was started as a peasant recipe by the Swiss to use up hardened cheese was later adapted to create fondue bourguignonne, which cooks beef in hot oil, as well as chocolate fondue, in which melted chocolate, cream and liqueur is used to coat various desserts.

Cheese fondue might be the most common variety (excellent recipe provided here), but there are infinite ways to riff on the dip combo with seemingly infinite finger-licking-good renditions, both savory (goat cheese fondue, Mexican fondue, cheddar-tomato fondue) and sweet (mocha fondue, caramel-Cognac fondue, chocolate-orange fondue).

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Happy National Chocolate Fondue Day!

Chocolate features prominently as cold-weather comfort in these bitter months: casually in a cup of hot chocolate or more indulgently in a bubbling pot of molten chocolate fondue. Reportedly invented by New York restaurant Swiss Chalet in 1966 in an effort to promote Toblerone chocolate, chocolate fondue can make use of any sort of bar. While the Hershey's bars provide a classic base, feel free to use more adventurous sweets too, like chile-, mint-, sea salt- or even bacon-spiked varieties from companies like Lindt or Vosges.

You don't need a fondue pot to create the silky snack. Simply heat some heavy cream at a simmer, then whisk in the chopped chocolate of your choice until the two merge. For the original recipe from Swiss Chalet, which suggests puff pastries, meringues and more for dipping, click here.

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Fondue is warm, social food, whether it consists of a group dipping crusty bread into gooey Emmentaler cheese, or, as in the recipe from Chef Marcus Samuelsson, a gang reaching for fresh strawberries and cherries just dipped into warm chocolate studded with rich macadamia nuts.

Marcus Samuelsson's Recipe for Chocolate Fondue with Fresh Fruit

Watch this video of Marcus Samuelsson demonstrating how to make chocolate 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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If you're anything like me, you're trying to pare down and keep unnecessary equipment to a minimum. That's why it's great to know you can still enjoy a bubbling pot of fondue without the special equipment. By using a piece of kitchen gear you've already got -- a crock pot or a saucepan -- you can make a sweet or savory snack perfect for any Valentine's Day celebration. If you don't have a crockpot, use your saucepan on a very low flame.

Recipes after the jump.