Fun with Fondue

A host can give two kinds of dinner parties: the kind people are
talking about for weeks after because they had such a good time, or
the kind people forget the next day because it was so blah.
A host can give two kinds of dinner parties: the kind people are talking about for weeks after because they had such a good time, or the kind people forget the next day because it was so blah.

Hosting a boring dinner party at your home can be the kiss of social death. So, earn yourself a much better kind of kiss—the real kind—by hosting a fondue dinner party and let the fun unfold.

Fondue can be made several ways, the most popular being cheese, followed by chocolate and meat. The cheese version involves melted cheese sitting in a communal pot over a burner at the center of the table. Guests use long, pronged forks to spear pieces of crusty bread, dipping the bread into the cheese and eating it.

Fondue originated in Switzerland centuries ago when cheese and bread made in the summer were eaten as rations in the winter. Both foods would be hard by that time, according to the Web site www.fonduecity.com. The Swiss found if the cheese was heated with wine over a fire it softened and became edible, and the hot cheese softened the bread, too.

Other people say fondue can be traced back to Homer, who mentions a recipe in Song XI of the Iliad that includes Pramnos wine, grated goat’s cheese and white flour.

Where ever it originated, it’s a sure-fire way to leave guests talking about your dinner party long after the fondue burner has gone out.

The Rules

Ask five different fondue fanatics about the rules for eating this delightful dipping delicacy, and you’ll get five different answers. Here are a few sample rules to get you started, but one of the highlights of the dinner party can be making up a set of rules tailored to the group assembled at the table.

– If a lady drops her food in the fondue pot, she must kiss the man sitting to her left.

– If a man drops his food in the fondue pot, he must kiss the lady sitting to his right.

– The person who drips the most dipping sauce on the tablecloth must host the next party.

– If a man drops his food in the fondue pot, he must provide a bottle of wine for the table.

– If someone drips on the tablecloth, they must say one nice thing about their host for every drip.

– If someone makes it through the whole meal without once dropping their food in the pot, they get a kiss from the person of their choice.

– A person who drops their food into the pot can pick from truth or dare to be determined by other guests, share something unusual about themselves, tell a joke or sing a song.

Meal Tips

Because cheese contains fat and wine is similar to water, there could be a problem with the two separating, according to The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Using natural and well-aged Swiss cheeses and a fairly dry white wine will help the two ingredients blend well.

For the germ conscious guest, provide a second fork at each plate to pull the food off the fondue fork. This avoids a sort of “double dipping” by preventing people from eating off the fondue fork and then putting it back in the communal pot.

To thicken a thin fondue, add a little more cheese, according to Home and Garden Television’s Web site. To thin a too-thick fondue, add some lukewarm wine. Mix well in either case.

Before using a new fondue pot, also called a caquelon, break it in by filling it with water and milk and boiling the mixture for 15 minutes.

If serving apple and banana slices with chocolate fondue, squirt lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown in the air.

Day-old bread is best for dipping. Try and cut loaves into 1-inch cubes, making sure each cube has some crust on at least one side.

Toward the end of the meal, make sure a thin layer of cheese or chocolate remains at the bottom of the fondue pot. Carefully raise the heat under the pot to turn this layer into a thin crust. This crust is known as “la religieuse”, which means “the religious one.” Lift out the crust and distribute it among the guests. It is considered a delicacy in Europe.

Classic Cheese Fondue

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 cups dry white wine

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp Kirsch (optional)

2 pounds grated Swiss cheese (Emmenthaler, Gruyere and Appenzeller combined are best)

1 Tbsp flour

Pepper to taste

Nutmeg to taste

Step 1: Prepare dippers of your choice, cutting into bite-sized pieces.

Step 2: Dredge cheese with flour. Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the cut garlic clove. Add wine and Kirsch. Heat on stovetop over medium flame until wine is hot but not boiling.

Step 3: Add lemon juice. Add handfuls of cheese, stirring constantly with wooden spoon until cheese is melted and cheese-wine mixture has the appearance of a light, creamy sauce. Add pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Step 4: Bring to a boil, then remove the fondue pot and place on lit burner on the table.

Source: The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Web site, www.cheesestorebh.com

Chocolate Fondue

12 ounces sweet German chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips, or Toblerone chocolate

1 cup light cream or half and half

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Step 1: Prepare dippers of your choice, cutting into bite-sized pieces.

Step 2: Break chocolate into squares and place pieces in sauce pan. Add the light cream or half and half, melting together over low heat, stirring until the chocolate is smooth. Add vanilla extract and continue to stir.

Step 3: Transfer chocolate sauce to fondue pot and place over lit burner on table.

Source: Home and Garden Television Web site, www.hgtv.com

Meat Fondue

3 pound piece boneless beef sirloin or tenderloin

Cooking oil (canola or other vegetable oil)

Butter

Step 1: Trim the fat from the meat; cut into bit-size cubes. Keep refrigerated until 20 minutes before cooking.  Meat can be marinated if desired.

Step 2: Fill a metal fondue pot about hlaf full with half oil and half butter. You can use oil only, if you prefer.  Heat the oil and butter mixture slowly on the stove until is about 360 degrees. If you are using the butter and oil combination then heat until the butter bubbles and the mixture turns a golden color. 

Step 3: Set the fondue pot on the stand over a moderately high direct heat and maintain the heat. 

Step 4: Each guest spears a cube of beef with a fondue fork, holds it in the hot oil until cooked to the desired doneness, which usually takes one to three minutes. Dip cooked meat in one of sauces of your choice.

Source: www.gourmetsleuth.com

Dipper Suggestions

Chocolate Fondue Dippers

– banana slices

– pineapple chunks

– whole strawberries

– apple slices

– kiwifruit slices

– pear slices

– orange sections

– dried apricots

– pound cake pieces

– marshmallows

– crusty French bread

Cheese Fondue Dippers

– crusty French bread

– crusty Italian bread

– fresh broccoli florets

– fresh cauliflower florets

– pre-cooked chunks of meat, such as steak, chicken or sausage

– pre-cooked potato wedges

Meet Fondue Dipping Sauces

– butter herb sauce

– honey mustard sauce

– horseradish cream sauce

– chipotle mayonnaise sauce

– spicy asian sauce

– tartar sauce

– BBQ sauce

– teriyaki sauce