Dec. 23, 2011 - Issue #845: Headstones
Provenance
Six facts about fondue
Fact one: it's delicious
Fondue dates to the late 17th century but was quite unlike the way it is cooked today. Instead of bread dipped in a mixture of wine and cheese, fondue referred to a recipe that contained eggs, cheese and wine, and had an appearance somewhere between cheesy scrambled eggs and a cheese soufflé.
I dip, you dip, we dip
The modern Fondue—bread dipped into a pot of wine and cheese—was popularized by Switzerland's Swiss Cheese Union in the 1930s as a way to sell more cheese. The group didn't invent the dish, but did create regional variations, sent fondue sets to military regiments and event organizers, and worked hard to promote the idea that fondue was a national dish in Switzerland. The group continues to aggressively promote the dish.
Holes in this theory
In the 1950s, dishes that resembled but were not traditional Swiss fondues came to be known by that name. Fondue Bourguignonne—developed by chef Konrad Egli of New York City's Chalet Swiss restaurant—cooks meat cubes in hot oil while chocolate fondue, which debuted at Chalet Swiss in 1964, sees sweet fruits such as strawberry, banana and pineapple dipped in melted chocolate.
Free love, with cheese
In the 1960s and 1970s, fondue became a fad in North America, brought back to the country by the jet set who discovered it on ski excursions in the 1950s. The communal cooking and eating aspect of fondue then became tied up in the ideas about free love and fondue gained a reputation for "friendliness."
She's very friendly
The friendliness of fondue is a longstanding tradition: according to Swiss custom, if a man drops a piece of bread into the fondue pot he must buy a round of drinks for everyone. If a woman drops a piece of bread into the pot, she must kiss all of the men.
Nun for me, thanks
La religieuse (it means "the nun" in French) refers to the hardened—but not burnt—crust that often forms on the bottom of cheese fondues. Shaped like and with the consistency of a cracker, it's often eaten after the fondue is over. vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus
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