Fondue can be a full multi-course meal.
Fondue is a social food, an opportunity to gather family or friends around the communal pot and spend a convivial hour or two. A traditional cheese fondue can be treated as a light meal when accompanied by a salad. However, you can also treat cheese fondue as an appetizer and follow it with both a main course and a dessert fondue, making a full multi-course meal. Allow one fondue pot for every four or five guests.
The Cheese Fondue
The classic cheese fondue traditionally uses Gruyere cheese as its base, although any cheese that melts to a soft and flowing consistency can be used. Appenzeller, Emmentaler and similar cheeses from the neighboring Alpine regions of Italy and France are especially good. The cheese sauce should be melted in a saucepan on your stovetop with wine and kirsch to thin it to a sauce consistency. Rub your fondue pot with garlic before pouring in the cheese. Serve toasted cubes of bread, florets of broccoli or cauliflower or pretzel sticks for dipping.
Vegetable or Salad Course
Cheese is rather rich to serve as a first course, so between the traditional cheese fondue and the main course it's useful to serve a salad or vegetable platter. The crisp vegetables will provide a refreshing palate cleanser, and if you have a limited number of fondue pots at your disposal, it's also an opportunity to clean them and prepare them for the main course. Serve crisp, green salads with lots of colorful vegetables and use a light vinaigrette rather than a creamy dressing. Alternatively, serve a platter of raw vegetables for dipping, which requires less cleanup and is in keeping with the fondue theme.
Fondue Bourguignonne
The main course fondue, sometimes called Fondue Bourguignonne, uses hot fat or broth to cook a selection of meats or vegetables. These should be sliced thinly or cut into small cubes, so they'll cook in a reasonable length of time. Your oil or broth should be preheated on the stovetop, and then poured into the fondue pots for serving. Skewer portions of meat or vegetables on the fondue forks and immerse them in the oil or broth until done, and then transfer them to individual plates. Don't eat from the forks, which get dangerously hot. Fondue Bourguignonne is not kid-friendly, given the risk of burns.
Chocolate Fondue
Chocolate fondue requires a lower temperature than savory fondues and generally uses a small ceramic or stoneware crock for melting the chocolate. The dipping chocolate is made by combining a good quality dark chocolate with heavy cream, forming a mixture known to pastry chefs as ganache. It's more stable than pure chocolate and less prone to scorching. Flavorful liqueurs, such as amaretto or Grand Marnier, can be added if desired. Use fresh fruit or squares of dense cake, such as pound cake, for dipping.
Tags: main course, cheese fondue, Fondue Bourguignonne, fondue pots, full multi-course, full multi-course meal
