Swiss fondue - 12 unusual places for your fondue experience

The word "fondue" comes from the French "fondu" and means melted. In Switzerland, when you say fondue, we understand cheese. Cheese fondue is a mixture of melted cheese and white wine.

With a dash of kirsch, cornstarch also enters the fondue mixture as a binder, as well as pepper and nutmeg. A fondue should be nice and creamy. When preparing it, make sure that it is neither too thin nor too thick.

It should also be stringy. Just enough so that the cheese stays on the piece of bread. A crust of bread strengthens its hold on the fork. The remaining cheese crust at the end of the meal is considered a delicacy by connoisseurs and is highly sought after.

You tend to eat fondue mainly during the colder seasons. Winter is therefore considered the fondue season throughout the country, but it is by no means a fixed rule. Even a summer evening can inspire you to enjoy a convivial fondue.

The cheese mixture, previously melted in the kitchen, is kept warm at the table in the caquelon, over a tabletop stove, the rechaud. You put cubes of bread cut to size on a long fork. Then you hold them in the creamy cheese and let them circle in it until the bread is coated with it. That way, you're eating with everyone from the same pan.

After a bit of cooling, you bite the cheese-covered piece of bread right off the dipped fork. Sometimes the guests slip it from the long fork onto their plate to enjoy it afterwards with a dinner fork. This emerging custom is considered hygienic and stylish.

Instead of bread, you can also use potatoes. As with raclette, another popular Swiss cheese meal, they go very well with fondue. For this you need to boil the potatoes beforehand or cook them in a pressure cooker.

Fondue is a full meal in itself. Nevertheless, you can offer dried or smoked meat from the region as an appetizer. To further enrich the palate, serve pickles, silver onions, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, hot peppers, asparagus tips or corn on the cob to accompany the fondue.

Perhaps there's room for a light dessert afterward. Delicious sorbets, fresh fruit salad or an airy mousse are perfect for dessert. With such delicacies you complete a successful fondue evening.

• Among the most common types of cheese fondue is the currently trendy Moitié-Moitié, made half from Gruyère and half from Fribourg Vacherin
• Another classic is the Fribourgeoise made from pure Vacherin. It is easier to digest, has a distinctly creamy consistency and is popular with connoisseurs
• You will also find a single type of cheese in the racy Appenzeller: Appenzeller.
• The Neuchâteloise from the beautiful Lake Neuchâtel region consists of half Gruyère and half Emmental cheese
• From the heart of Switzerland comes the authentic Innerschweizer fondue. In it you will find one third each of Gruyère, Emmental and Sbrinz
• The Walliser cheese blend is as hearty as the people there. You use half Vacherin, one quarter each Gruyère and Raclette cheese
• To enjoy the Eastern Swiss fondue, you need one third each of Gruyère, Appenzeller and Tilsiter

Also worth mentioning are the related types of fondue, but not based on cheese and bread

• In Fondue Bourguignonne (fat fondue) meat is deep-fried in hot fat. For this you use sunflower, canola, soybean, peanut oil, special fondue oils or fondue fats
• Also with the somewhat lighter version, the Fondue Chinoise (Brühfondue), you use a, for meat Fondues particularly intended metal pot. But in it bubbles more digestible broth instead of the strong fats and oils.
• Wine fondue is the meat pleasure of the special kind. Here you cook thinly sliced meat in boiling red or white wine. Herbs, broth or spices round off the culinary delight
• With Schoggi-Fondue you dip pieces of fruit ceremoniously into hot chocolate. Therefore, it is well suited as a dessert and is highly popular at festive occasions.

Many fondue restaurants, as well as cheese and delicatessen stores, keep their cheese blends secret. Accordingly, Swiss families like to get their fondue from a source they trust. One of the family traditions you'll often encounter in Switzerland.

Want to dip your bread in authentic Swiss cheese fondue? Then be sure to use real Swiss cheese. The younger, the better its melting properties.

Take special care with the highly prized, easier-to-digest fondue made with pure Fribourg Vacherin. Because it's so delicate, you must never bring the melted cheese to a boil. That's why its rechaud has only one candle.

In addition to your good mood, cheese fondue also requires white wine. Dry wine with increased acidity is suitable for the preparation. This gives the cheese mixture its creamy consistency. On the other hand, a dry white wine with low acidity is suitable as an accompanying drink to the fondue.

Rumor has it that drinking water with fondue is not a good idea. Whether this actually causes a lump to form in the stomach, as children are often told, is not proven. But you're on the safe side here with a cup of warm tea.

It pays to invest when it comes to fondue. High-quality workmanship and materials are also crucial here. With the Caquelon applies: the material should pass the heat slowly into the interior. Accordingly, your cheese melts slowly

Cast iron is a good choice, as long as you don't overdo it when heating. The material proves to be robust and retains heat for a long time. This keeps your cheese fondue creamy longer. Earthenware or ceramic caquelons are also suitable, but are more prone to burning your fondue. A thick bottom helps against this.

Classic fondue pots can be filled with methylated spirits, while modern fondue pots can be filled with fuel paste. Fondue plates, fondue cups, fondue forks and many other fondue gadgets can be found in a large selection. Fondue is not only food, fondue is also culture.

There are. You can easily find numerous alternatives without alcohol. So you don't have to miss out on the creamy treat even with small children. Milk is often used as a substitute for wine. Butter and flour round off the whole thing.

You can also find vegan fondue without cheese. But with numerous special ingredients such as vegan white wine, vegan butter, unsweetened plant milk, cashew mousse, turmeric or white miso paste, to name just a few.

Once you have the necessary utensils, making fondue is easy. Now you need a solid recipe to get started. For a classic East Swiss cheese fondue for 6 people you need:

• About one kilo of bread cut into small pieces
• 200 g Gruyère (grated)
• 200 g Tilsiter (grated)
• 200 g Appenzeller (grated)
• 300 ml dry white wine
• one tablespoon of cornstarch (Maizena)
• two tablespoons of kirsch
• one clove of garlic
• ground pepper
• grated nutmeg

Rub the caquelon with half a clove of garlic. In the fondue pan, melt the grated cheese in the wine over medium heat, stirring regularly. Once the cheese is melted, add the cornstarch dissolved in the kirsch with the pressed garlic, pepper and nutmeg, stirring vigorously. Then let it simmer, stirring regularly, until it reaches the right consistency. It should be a nice creamy cheese mass.

Then there are the ready-made fondues. Convenient, quick and easy to prepare. You can read on the package how to do it. You also get a creamy fondue and it tastes good too. Some even swear by it and do without the conventional cheese mixtures altogether.

Drinking a lot of warm water is recommended for cheese fondue, as it helps you digest the food. However, the fondue tradition and the social gathering invite you to drink dry white wine. As a supposed digestive drink, you are also often offered kirsch in a shot glass.

Unfortunately, this is a common misconception, because alcohol slows down stomach activity. Instead of cold alcoholic drinks, we recommend plain, hot black tea with fondue. An ideal drink for digestion and well-being.

If you lose your piece of bread in the melted cheese, it's bad. According to unwritten fondue rules, this misstep is "punished". From drinking schnapps to singing songs, there is no limit to the imagination of the participants. But it doesn't have to be like in "Asterix with the Swiss"..

Deliberately raising the rechaud flame for a quick crust is frowned upon. A good cheese crust takes time before you can carefully scrape it out and eat it. Energetic scraping not only displeases any host, but your table mates as well. Besides, the crust, popularly known as "grandmother," is shared at the end.

Fondue is known all over the world, but you can enjoy it most originally in Switzerland. Where not only milk and honey flow, but also wine and cheese.