There seem to be so many options -boxes, deli or cheese counter, pre-packaged at the supermarket at which supermarket -is Coop better than Migros or Denner or Aldi? Are the dry? boxes any good or is it better to use fresh cheese? And then there are all sorts of specialty delis. What wines (specifically) do you recommend.
Do you have any other tips or tricks for making delicious fondue at home.
We have had good luck with the pre-shredded, mixed cheese bags from Coop and Casino. I mix it with a cup of white wine and a shot of Kirsch.
In the US I needed to make some fondue for kids so I boiled a cup of water and added roughly one pound of shredded gruyere cheese.
Personally, I would never dream of using anything other than 'fresh' cheese. I like rubbing garlic in the caquelon first, then mixing the cheese with the cornstarch (rather than adding the cornstarch later) and then the wine...I let it sit for about 30 minutes. Just before melting I give the cheese a small squeeze of lemon juice...and I constantly stir...Kirsch is added at the end. Pretty standard version really...but it always works well.
Good luck in your cheese adventure (and make sure to shut the bedroom door before making your fondue at home)...
Jack
Method:
1. Warm the fondue pot on the stove and scrape the bottom with a cut clove of garlic as argus said. This seals the pan and stops it from sticking.
2. Add the cheese packet, 2-3 cloves of garlic and melt the cheese, adding 1 cup of white wine and more if it dries out.
3. Transfer the pot to the stand and serve with household Kirsch (CHF 10 for 1L). Dip the bread in the Kirsch and then in the cheese.
Tip: Use bagette crusty bread so the fork can stick to the bread, since any bread dropped in the fondue pot gets a penalty. Oh, and don't lick the fork.
Drink Swiss white wine - Aigle or Epesses. End with a shot of Kirsch for digestion
I melt my cheese (just buy the shredded bags from Migros/Coop or go to the cheese counter) with lots of garlic, white wine, a bit of cream, a small can/bottle of tomato sauce (just plain crushed tomato) and lots of italian herbs. It comes out tasting like pizza sauce with cheese. To get the right consistency you have to add a bit of extra cornstarch.
Instead of just using bread pieces, I also serve it with boiled potato, pineapple, pickles (seriously these taste the best with tomato fondue), cherry tomato, steamed veggies....anything that would taste good on a pizza.
Mmmmm, now I want fondue!
200 g grated Gruyere
200 g grated Vacherin Fribourgois or Appenzeller
1 clove garlic, mashed
2 teaspoons corn starch
juice of 1/2 lemon
200 ml dry white wine
30 ml kirsch
Freshly grated pepper and nutmeg
Rub the inside of the caquelon (fondue pot) with the mashed garlic, add cheeses and mix together with corn starch. Place wine in saucepan and bring to a simmer, being careful not to let it come to a boil. Gradually add wine to the cheese mixture, stirring constantly over medium heat until melted. Then add the lemon juice, kirsch and freshly grated pepper and nutmeg, slowly stirring to incorporate. When cheese is melted and bubbly, transfer to the spirit burner.
Serve with crusty bread cut into cubes and a mixed green salad.
N.B. I've also served chopped apples, steamed cauliflower, broccoli and/or raclette potatoes.
For that amount of cheese I use about 350-400ml wine - my local wine shop sells a cheapo "fondue wine" for mixing in the fondue (SFr2.50 per bottle).
I rub the inside of the cachelon with a peeled garlic clove - also I add a crushed clove plus a few peeled whole cloves to the fondue itself.
The kirsch I mix with the cornflour to a paste and add it at the end of cooking along with a pinch of sweet paprika and a half teaspoon of French mustard.
For bread cubes, I prefer if the bread is on the way to being stale (with average Swiss supermarket bread this is about 5 minutes after you get it home).
The usual starter is Nüssli (Lambs Lettuce) salad with bacon cubes, chopped hardboiled egg and bread croutons. I wash the nüssli leaves thoroughly to get the grit out. Meanwhile I fry my bacon cubes in a pan with some olive oil and boil 2 or 3 eggs for 4 minutes. The croutons I make by painting a couple of slices of bread with olive oil and baking in then oven on high temperature until crisp - then slice into small croutons. I only assemble the salad once all the ingredients are ready (and the cooked ingredients are still warm) - and just before we are about to eat as otherwise the croutons will go soggy. For dressing just a simple extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt and pepper.
For vegetarians, I replace the bacon with sliced chestnut mushrooms fried in oil with a splash of balsamic added at the end.
For wine, we generally prefer a dry Johannisburg - we had a particularly nice Neuchatel wine with the last fondue we had. Alternatively, black tea is good for those who have to drive home.
For dessert, a simple fruit salad will help stop the cheese forming into a rubgy ball in your stomach.
Cheers,
Nick
Yes, they're a definite must.
Make sure if you invite guests for Fondue that they know what it is, a few years back we had a Fondue dinner party, and asked everybody (from my German school class friends) if they liked Fondue everyone said yes. So on the night everyone was sitting down eating Fondue when i noticed a friend only eating bread, i asked him why he was not eating the cheese and he said he was full from eating a few breads with cheese at the start . Anyway i found out later he didn`t like cheese .
Another point please do not put to much Kirsch in the Fondue again a few years back we was invited to friends for Fondue sat down to eat dipped my bread in the cheese and it was like eating Kirsch, they had poured a full bottle of the stuff into the cheese misture . I sat eating bread all night
For cheese, when we have enough of it, I sometimes like to use all Appenzeller. It's a strong cheese, and some in our household won't touch it ordinarily, but they all love it in Fondue.
For seasoning, I like to use the pepper and nutmeg mixes made especially for Fondue, and available at Migro or Coop — just a few shakes stirred in shortly before taking it to the table.
For bread, although I started out using only virtually stale baguettes, I now share the preference of my Swiss friends of using any dense, crusty German-Swiss style bread — like a (long) farmer's bread.
For wine, I use Portuguese Vino Verde both in the caquelon and in the glass. It's inexpensive, and is made with the same Chasselas grape as a Fendant and so has a similar flavor.
Also, when there's time, I thoroughly rub the caquelon with a couple crushed cloves (as others have already mentioned), then let it sit for a half-hour, then pour in the wine, and let that sit for another half-hour or hour before cooking. I then heat the wine directly in the caquelon on the stove and gradually stir in the cubed or shredded cheese. The pre-'seasoning' process seems to make it easier to scrape off the crusty treat afterwards, as long as it didn't get over-heated.
Finally, just before serving (and after adding the seasoning), I thoroughly stir up the Kirsch and corn starch mixture, then pour it into the Fondue, and stir the whole mixture vigorously (whipping it, essentially) until it is creamy (i.e., no oil separation). If everyone does their part to keep it stirred up during the meal, it'll stay that way.
I've never had anything other than the ready-made Gerber fondue, as that's my husband's speciality (!) and the only thing he can cook - so I take this opportunity when I can and suffer it.
Otherwise, I have to cook everything..........