The Fundamentals of Fondue

by Marilyn Bauer
photos by David N. Seelig

Long before Austin Powers’ shagadelic style permeated pop culture, the fondue pot was the culinary icon of the 1960s. Sparkling stainless with wood and Formica accents, the pot became the centerpiece of a new informality in entertaining. We bonded around melted cheese, Sterno blazing, Bob Dylan in the background, jug wine on ice.

Like bell-bottoms, martinis and cigars, fondue has made a comeback. 

“People want to cook things that are delicious, fast and easy,” says Rick Rodgers, author of “Fondue: Great Food to Dip, Dunk, Savor and Swirl.”

Some of us will be able to dig into a back cupboard to bring a fondue set out of retirement. But newcomers to this classic can find a selection of sets in the valley ranging from $20 to $150. As with any resurrected fad, fondue today has a decidedly modern twist.

There’s reverse fondue, for example, which bypasses cheese as the dip and instead swirls bits into a vegetable base. Companies like Calphalon and Le Creuset have come up with hardware that is sturdier and more versatile.

Most fondue pots have a denatured alcohol burner. Electric pots may not be as romantic, but work equally well. Ceramic-lined pots are designed for making cheese and chocolate fondues. Metal pots can also be used for heating oil to cook beef and warming various dipping sauces.

Four or six long forks and a few recipes come with most pots and that’s enough to get started. 

Fondue recipes usually begin with heating white wine to boiling and then gently stirring in a family of cheeses. Combinations like Swiss with Cheddar work very well. As do Gruyère and Emmenthaler. Poorly aged cheeses tend to lump.

Cornstarch should be added—alone or whisked with kirsch—as soon as the cheese melts to prevent the liquid from separating or curdling. Depending on your menu, add garlic, spices, sun-dried tomatoes or mustard. Spear chunks of bread, bagel bits, focaccia, salami cubes, pepperoni wedges, baby artichoke hearts, red bell pepper slices or raw zucchini and dip into the mix.

To round out the meal, serve cornichons, the tiny French pickles, pearl onions and thinly sliced prosciutto. For a light dessert serve fresh nectarines marinated in white balsamic vinegar and a little sugar over frozen vanilla yogurt.

Cheese fondue dates back centuries to remote Swiss villages where food was scarce and often inedible in winter. Villagers would come together for meals, dipping stale bread into a communal pot of melted cheese. These dinners became a symbol of camaraderie and a means of survival for many.

Meat fondues originated in France sometime after the fifth century for much the same reason. Grape pickers, guarding against spoilage, would set up pots in the vineyards. Fondue is French for “to melt or blend.”

It’s not difficult to see why fondue dinners have come back as a popular way to entertain. But if your friends feel melted cheese does not make a meal, serve fondue as an appetizer by cutting any recipe in half or for dessert by melting chocolate and serving with fresh fruit.

Whatever you create, sharing is central and according to Swiss custom so is sharing with those you love: If you lose your cube of food in the fondue pot, tradition holds you have to kiss the man to your right if you are a woman. If you are a man, you have to buy a bottle of wine. •

Joan’s Classic 
Cheese Fondue*

Baguette
Cornichons. Whole Pearl Onions
Sliced Prosciutto
Green Salad
Frozen Vanilla Yogurt/Sliced Nectarines

Countdown:
Early in the day: shred cheeses, combine in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Slice baguette into cubes and place in a tightly closed plastic bag. Drain and rinse onions. Heat with a little water and cool. Before guests arrive: Prepare salad and refrigerate. Place the cornichons and onions in serving bowls. Twenty minutes before serving: Toss salad, place bread cubes in napkin-lined basket. Prepare fondue.

Joan’s Classic Cheese Fondue
Serves 4
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, shredded
1/4 pound Gruyère cheese, shredded
1/2 pound Emmenthaler cheese, shredded
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons kirsch
2 to 3 grinds pepper
Pinch ground fresh nutmeg
1 baguette, cut into cubes
Cornichons
1 (15 ounce) jar pearl onions
Sliced prosciutto

Rub inside of fondue pot with cut side of garlic. Discard garlic.

Combine cheeses with cornstarch and set aside.
Pour wine into fondue pot and place over medium heat until hot, but not boiling. Add lemon juice, and reduce heat to medium-low. Add cheese by handfuls to hot liquid, stirring constantly with wooden spoon in figure-eight motion until cheese melts and mixture has creamy appearance. Stir in kirsch, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then place over lighted fondue burner. Serve with bread cubes, cornichons, onions and prosciutto.

*Recipe from Joan Drake, former managing editor 
of the Los Angeles Times food section.