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In Switzerland, fondue is king
What do the Swiss eat the most in the winter months? fondue, naturellement!
Since preparing my first cheese fondue with the help of a friend from France when I was a teenager, I have been making and eating fondue each time the opportunity presents itself.
“But how do you make it?,” I made sure to ask my friend, Jacques, one year when vacationing in his native home town in Savoy in the French Alps. Jacques promised me we would make one together and that is just what happened.
It is relatively easy to make. You take some bread with a hard crust and cut into small pieces. You grate two different types of cheese such as Gruyère and Emmental and put them in the fondue pot. Other good cheeses are Comté, Abondance and Vacherin-Fribourgeois. Then, you add nutmeg, a little garlic, some dry white wine and some Kirsch (cherry fruit brandy) if you want. The pot is heated while turning the mixture until it is very hot.
You need a special fork to eat it, but be careful not to burn your tongue. The bread can soften very quickly so don’t let it stay in too long. It is said that whoever drops the bread in the pot needs to buy the next round of drinks. Remember this, if you already spent your last Swiss franc!
I had always believed that fondue originated in the French Alps, but Jacques mentioned that it was a Swiss dish. Yes, it can be confusing as the word used in France to describe a cheese fondue (melting cheese) is Fondue Savoyarde (cheese Fondue of Savoy).
Why is that? The Swiss and the French have been fighting for years over the origin of this dish. The Savoyards are sure it came from their part of the Alps and called it Fondue Savoyarde!
Jacques explained that the Swiss peasants from Fribourg (in the French Speaking part of Switzerland) started to melt their left over cheese with some wine and ate it with bread many centuries ago . It was a dish for the poor. The Swiss army introduced later the fondue to their families.
Recently, an ethnologist, Isabelle Raboud-Schüle, who had been interested in the origins of fondue and researched it thoroughly, came to the conclusion that fondue was in fact a dish of the rich. Families, who could afford good quality cheese, started melting cheese in their home. Apparently the first account of fondue recipes was in a cook book of Zurich at the end of the 17th century.
What else is to be known about fondue? The word itself was coined in the 18th century and the word melting pot, called coquelon, since the 19th century.
Quite a few fondue restaurants opened their doors in the United States and in Europe at the end of the 20th century. Bring a partner with you, as in most places, you will need to be at least two people to be able to order this delicious Swiss specialty. As the melting pot is rather small, it only accommodates groups of six people around one table. Many young people love getting together nowadays to eat fondue at home in the winter months.
Melting pots can be bought in most department stores and the cheeses are easily found anywhere. For those who wish to enjoy a quick fondue at the last minute, you can even find prepared packages in the supermarket for a bargain. These have been commercialized in Switzerland since 1955! The ready to use packages are quite good but it will never taste as good as your own fondue.
If cheese is your weakness, don’t wait any longer. Reserve a table at a restaurant or as I prefer, make it yourself!
