A fondue pot is a utensil used in eating a fondue. It holds molten cheese, oil or chocolate. Ingredients like bread, fruit and meat are dipped into the fondue pot to warm or cook an ingredient.
History
In the 18th century, poor Swiss villagers and sheep herders needed to use up their stale bread and cheese during the long and cold winter months. They put their stale cheese in metal pots with local wine and melted the two together. They used leftover stale bread to dip into the melted mixture to eat. It is thought that this is how the communal nature of fondue began.
Growing Trend
As the villagers began expanding upon their fondue selections, royalty and the rich began to pick up on the villagers' fondue creations but added more expensive seafood with better cheeses and wines. In the 1970s, fondue began to grow in popularity as fondue parties swept the United States.
Fondue Pot Materials
The first fondue pots were ceramic or earthenware. They were thick so heat was evenly distributed to cook and melt the contents evenly. Today fondue pots can be made of metal so they can boil oil to cook meats.
Heating Fondue Pots
Most fondue pots sit on top of metal frames above a heating element. Most fondues are heated by butane, alcohol, electric or tea lights.
Fondue Combinations
Some of the most popular fondue combinations include melted chocolate with cookies, cake or fruit. Heated oil cooks seafood, steak or poultry. Molten cheese is filled into fondue pots so participants can dip bread and crackers into the cheese.
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