You can’t go to Switzerland and not have a fondue can you? That’s like going to Paris and not having a croissant or a baguette, or even visiting Germany and not having a single sausage (speaking of Sausages, do pop over to my friend’s new site – A Sausage Has Two, a beautiful place full of all things seasonal food – both German and not so!)… Fondue is what the Small Girl requested for her birthday dinner, so it wasn’t like we had that much choice anyway!
Settling for the place she liked the look of best – it was Fasching (Carnival) at the time, and there were people in fancy dress inside – we made the mistake of opting for a Fondue for 4. When I say mistake, I mean it in the nicest possible way. Being forced to eat your own bodyweight in melted cheese when your offspring decide (after several smothered cubes of bread each) that they are full is probably not that much of a hardship looking back.
We do partake in the odd fondue at home from time to time too (something we never indulged in before moving to this part of the world). I blame our overly Bavarian pine kitchen complete with traditional ceramic fire (a kachelofen if you want the correct term). When it’s snowing outside, but inside the fondue starts bubbling, then it’s pretty easy to pretend you in a ski chalet (with the unfortunate realisation that I am usually the chalet maid).
Fondue has to be one of the easiest things to make for a crowd of people too, and you can counterbalance the slightly unhealthy mass of cheese with piles of fresh vegetables, fruit and meats to dip, alongside the traditional bread. The picture at the top shows my haul (including radishes, figs, porcini, chicory, baby carrots, radicchio and baby new potatoes if you are looking for ideas) at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich especially selected for one such soiree (I fried the porcini in butter beforehand – not so healthy!), and alongside this treasure, we piled wooden boards high with grapes, chunks of apples and pears, all manner of pickled onions, gherkins, sliced sausages and smoked ham. I can’t think of a more sociable meal, or a more dangerous one if there’s schnapps involved….
An Authentic Swiss (birthday) Fondue!
Ingredients: (serves 8)
1 pint of dry white wine;
2 tsp lemon juice;
500g grated Emmental;
500g grated Gruyere;
2tsp cornflour;
2 tbsp clear Kirsch (if you can find it, otherwise the coloured stuff works well too!);
Freshly ground black pepper, freshly ground nutmeg.
Using a good heavy fondue pot, rub the inside generously with the garlic. Bring the wine and the lemon juice to boil. Lower the heat, add the cheese and stir continuously until melted. Blend the kirsch with the cornflour and add to the fondue pot. Stir through until completely smooth. Add a generous grind of black pepper, and a good pinch of ground nutmeg to the top, and stagger to the table with the pot…
Oh man, this looks so good and brings my memory back to the AMAZING fondue I had at a girlfriend’s house about 2 years ago. I don’t know exactly how she made it, but the recipes sound similar. I think I’ll have to invite myself over to house for it again soon :D
You must! So nice to meet you the other day! Thanks Dana! :)
Also bookmarked! I am quite literally drooling over my keyboard. Fondoooooohhhh :)
Thanks Sarah! :D
Love fondue! One of my favourite Swiss jokes ….
– Swiss chocolate?
– Don’t mind if I fondue!
Hahahaha…. Thought of you when I wrote this post. You must have been sick of it by the time you left! :D
Oh I do so love fondue. I haven’t thought of it for ages but now you’ve reminded me.
Thanks Sally! :)
OMG! that looks and sounds amazing! I know that would definitely be a hit in this house and I think I might have to make some. I had fondue while I was working in France and have to say, it was amazing.
Thanks Andrea! :)
I can’t recall that I’ve ever had fondue, that must be some sort of crime surely? Mich x
Definitely!! Thanks Mich! :) x
I have never tried the cheese fondue but I used to love the boiling hot oil fondue where you’d dip cubes of beef steak in, such a fun meal in company. Love that recipe btw.
And I have never had that! Thanks Mari! :) x
that looks and sounds yummy. I need to be more adventurous.
Thanks Emma! :)
Oh you’re so lovely, thank you so much for spreading the word about my site! :D
I’ve only ever had a proper fondue once, but it was made by my Swiss brother-in-law, so hopefully such authenticity cancels out my inferior fonduing experience. He gave me a couple of really important tips, one about the hard bit that builds up at the bottom which I can’t remember; and another one about having to drink lots of white wine alongside it to distract your digestive system from the challenge of dealing with the cheese. Worked for me ;)
You are most welcome! :) I do like his advice about white wine. Sounds much more sensible than masses of Schnapps! :D I think you just have to be careful about not letting it burn when it get’s a bit depleted, but I will have to check with Mr R as he is usually in charge when it gets to that stage! :D
The thing about the bottom is that it’s the treat at the end to eat the crispy cheese crust that eventually forms. So you dip until all the liquidy bit has gone and then you pick out the crust.
He has obviously been saving that bit for himself!!! Thanks R! :)
A friend used to make fondue for four women friends every time her husband was away on business (he hated anything dairy). I loved it but we used to cube baguette for dunking – I swear it was a week’s worth of calories in one evening. Delicious though.
Definitely definitely around a week’s worth of calories, but so worth it! :D Thank you R! :)
Oh look at that fondue, I could dive right in
Thank you! :D
I have a fondue kit in my pantry–I need to pull it out one night soon!
You have to have one whilst you are still Alpine-side! :D Thanks Brooke!
Ooooh, my husband adores fondue…
I’d rather a vat of chocolate :-)
I should have done that for pudding! Next time! Thanks Emma! :)
I have actually got cheese envy at this moment in time. I’ve never had fondue at home – but I might have to give this a go :) Mmmmm cheese…
So easy and definitely cheesy! Thanks Ting! :D
Yum! Who wouldn’t love a fondue? It was only a few years ago I discovered the raclette and rosti, on my travels. I love alpine food.
Whenever we move on from here, the raclette and rosti will be coming with us too! Thanks Louisa! :)
I could seriously dive right into that now – for breakfast!
Laughing at the chalet maid part, how true is that?!
For breakfast would be good… Maybe with fresh baguettes and poached eggs on the side! And yes, it’s very true Liz! :D Thank you! :)
Yum! I feel like a fondu is just what I need on a cold wintry day!
We had blinking snow briefly again this afternoon! Thanks Elizabeth! :)