Fondue is a Swiss communal dish shared at the table in an earthenware pot (
caquelon) over a small burner (
rechaud). The term is derived from the French verb
fondre (
to melt), in the past participle
fondu (
melted).
Diners use forks to dip bits of food (most often bread) into the warm semi-liquid sauce (commonly a cheese mix). Heat is supplied by a wick or gel alcohol burner, or a tealight.
While cheese fondue is the most widely known, there are other pot and dipping ingredients.
Preparation
There are many kinds of fondue, each made with a different blend of cheeses, wine and seasoning, mostly depending on where it is made. The
caquelon is first rubbed with a cut garlic clove, then wine and cheese are slowly added until melted. A small amount of potato starch (or corn starch, cornflour or flour) is added to prevent separation and the fondue is almost always further diluted with either kirsch, beer or white wine. The most common recipe calls for 1 dl (100 ml) of dry white wine per person and a 200 g mix of hard (such as Gruyère) and semi-hard (such as Emmental, Vacherin or raclette) cheeses: The mixture must be stirred continuously as it heats in the
caquelon. Crusty bread is cut into cubes which are then speared on a fondue fork and dipped into the melted cheese.
Etiquette
As with other communal dishes, fondue has an etiquette. Most often, allowing one's tongue or lips to touch the dipping fork will be thought of as rude. With meat fondues, one should use a dinner fork to take meat off the dipping fork as it will be dangerously hot. A "no double-dipping" rule also has sway: After a dipped morsel has been tasted, it should never be returned to the pot.
In Swiss tradition, if a nugget of bread is lost in the cheese by a man, he buys a bottle of wine, and if such a thing happens to befall a woman, she kisses the man on her left
