What is Fondue?
fondue recipes
- Fondue was actually “invented” out of necessity by the Swiss in the
18th century. During the long, hard winters in rural Switzerland,
villagers rarely had the opportunity to enjoy fresh foods. Like many
other isolated individuals during this time period, they mainly ate
cheeses and bread. Without the modern conveniences, these foods were
often consumed long after they had become stale.
fondue recipes - Stale bread is quite hard and rather unpleasant to eat,
and stale cheese is not much better. Out of necessity, these villagers
began heating the cheese to make it easier to eat as well as improve the
taste. They began to dip the stale bread chunks into the melted cheese
and found that it became soft. Soon, the cheese began to be seasoned
with herbs and wine to create a quite flavorful meal.
The villagers were usually quite poor and had few eating utensils. Since
the cheese was heated over the same fire that gave warmth, it was
natural that they would gather around the pot to dip their sticks with
bread into the cheese pot. This was the birth of fondue.
Modern Fondue
There was a fondue revival in the late sixties and early seventies which
caused the misconception that it was created during that time period.
Many believe the renewed interest in fondue was due to the popularity of
communal living, and fondue fit in nicely as a dish for communal
eating. For many people the mere mention of a fondue pot conjures images
of bell bottoms and tie dye.
In recent years there has been another resurrection of the fondue pot.
This new reincarnation of fondue has expanded to include fruits and
pastries that are dipped into chocolate or hot fruit sauces. There are
even recipes for fondue that are not technically a fondue at all. These
dishes call for meat and vegetables to be placed on the skewers and
dipped into hot grease in a fondue pot. It is now possible to have an
entire fondue themed menu that includes several different typed of
foods.
Fondue recipes are quite simple in nature. Basically, cheese, chocolate
or sauce is placed in the fondue pot and heated until fully melted. The
dipping foods and breads are simply cut into bite sized pieces and
skewered then dipped into the fondue pot.