Serves: 4
Approx cost: €16
Approx calories (per serving, inc. bread, meat): ~1000 calories
Approx preparation and cooking time: 45mins
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #0B0B61;”]Firstly, let me kick off 2012 by saying “Happy New Year” to each and every one of my readers – or should I say “Gott Nytt År”, since I’m in Sweden right now. May 2012 bring you many happinesses and I hope you’re able to set some attainable targets for yourself. Looking back on 2011 – I’ll remember this as the year of the blog. I started blogging in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2011 that I started gaining a reader base. 2011 seemed to fly by, but conversely January seemed so long ago. I’ve “met” some fantastic people in the last year. I know how some of you have cute little (or big in some cases) dogs, I’ve followed you on your holiday trips, and I’ve read about your sweet children upturning plates on tables, among other hilarious antics. It’s been a fun year – let’s raise a glass to another great one!
I did promise you a picture or two from Sweden, so here’s one for you today. Look at this cute sunset… isn’t it nice. Oh, I should mention this photo was taken at just past 11am. Yeeeah. 9.30 – sun comes up, says hello, does a little jig in the sky, 11.30 it’s on it’s way to bed – though the “dusk” is actually quite slow. It’s not until 3pm that it’s completely dark (and yep – those are snow-scooter tracks in the field to the left!)
For today’s recipe I thought I’d post something which is just perfect for “high days and holidays” so to speak. Definitely something for the winter this dish will leave you feeling stuffed for hours. I recommend eating this at lunch, so you’ll have the rest of the day to digest it, as well as time for a brisk walk in the evening before bed – just to be sure you’ve burnt off enough of the giant cheese ball sitting in your belly (although there’s also something very satisfying about literally rolling into bed shortly after finishing the meal). The basic cheeses used are Beaufort, Comté and Emmental, though you can play about a little with these. Purists might balk at the idea of adding non-traditional cheeses to the mix but I say if it tastes good then where’s the harm? I think I used a Tomme de Savoie cheese once instead of Emmental, for example. You need to be sure that you buy quality cheese. Dutch Emmental, in my experience, really doesn’t melt at all – instead turning into sweaty, rubber, cubes. This time I purchased Emmental de Savoie which worked wonderfully. Savoie being this region of France, of course, and the origin of the wine and most of the cheeses used in this dish (Comté comes from just slightly further North, from the Franche-Comté region of France). As with any dish like this, you can really experiment with the quantities to find your perfect “blend”.
To eat with the fondue, you’ll need some good charcuterie, or cold meats. Nothing spicy like chorizo or salami – ideally you should try and get french meats from the Savoie region. This time we ate Coppa, Rosette and Jambon de Savoie… a meat a little like Prosciutto. A large bowl of pickled cornichons will be required, as well as an abundance of good baguette to properly enjoy the meal. You’ll also need a fondue set… one sufficiently large enough for a cheese fondue. Horror of horrors, when everything was ready in the picture above I realised that the packet of flammable paste, which you burn underneath the pot, had run dry 🙁 In the end we used my wife’s slow-cooker set to high. Not a bad result!
I have a friend who I would consider the king of fondues. My wife and I spent several great evenings with him and his wife, laughing the evening away over a giant bowl of melted cheese (damn that sounds decadent). Unfortunately, he moved away to another part of the world, so it’s rare that we have a chance to enjoy such a dish anymore – though perhaps that’s best for my waistline at least 🙂 Enjoy, everyone!
Ingredients
For the fondue:
- 350g Beaufort Cheese
- 250g Comte Cheese
- 250g Emmental Cheese
- 1 large glass white Savoie wine, preferably “Aprémont”
- 4 tbsps Kirsch
- 2-3 tbsps Cornflour/Corn Starch
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 clove of Garlic
For the accompaniments:
- 1-2 Baguettes
- Cornichons/Gherkins
- Good sliced meats – Prosciutto, Rosette, Wild boar, Coppa etc
Instructions
- Start off by peeling the garlic, cutting in half, and rubbing all around the inside of the fondue bowl. Squeezing hard to extract as much oil as possible. Next, cut the cheese into small cubes of about 1cm. Mix the cheese well and transfer into the bowl of your fondue kit. Pour in the kirsch and sprinkle the cornflour/corn starch on top until you have a thin layer covering the cheese, as shown below. Sprinkle on the nutmeg and then gently pour in the wine. You want the wine to come up about a third of the way to the top of the cheese. Too much and you’ll have a large liquid puddle later (although this will disappear eventually). Too little and the cheese will just melt, burn and coagulate into a hard clump.
- Light the burner under the fondue bowl and heat on a medium heat, stirring regularly (not constantly), but gently, using a wooden spoon, to ensure the cheese doesn’t burn. The cheese at the bottom will begin to get stringy first. Keep stirring occasionally, mixing in all the cheese with the liquid until you achieve “complete cheese melt-down”. Sample the fondue by skewering a piece of bread and dipping it into the cheese before removing it and sliding it off the skewer onto your plate.
- The cheese should be nice and hot – if it’s not then continue heating for a while, but when you’ve achieved the desired temperature, turn the heat down (not off) while you’re eating. Eat the cheesy bread with the cold meats and the cornichons. Wash it all down with something refreshing because you’re going to need it! Enjoy 🙂
Chami says
🙂 happy new year.
Charles says
Happy New Year Chami!
fati's recipes says
Oh my god, Charles, I remember when the office lady back in high school was going on about how much she loooves cheese fondues because I had bought a fondue set for my Home Ec teacher at the end of the year 🙂
Now I know what she’s all on about… this is so mouthwatering! … Thanks for your kind wishes 🙂
Charles says
Haha, thanks Fati 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try it… just remember not to eat much for 24 hours leading up to it… it’s quite a filling meal 😀
Happy new year!
ping says
Happy New Year! Boy! This sure looks like a great start to the year … Fondue! I want! The last time we had this was … oh … gosh, so long ago, I can’t remember when but I definitely remember the great fun and company we had.
What a dreamy picture … very nice!
Charles says
Thanks Ping 🙂 It’s a wonderfully social dish… all sitting around a steaming cauldron of cheese 😀 Hope you had a wonderful new year 🙂
Eva kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com says
I dare say I adore a good fondu Charles. Very creative with the use of the slow cooker, but then again necessity is the mother if invention! We really got turned on fondu by our friends of friends from Switzerland, Daniel and Suzanne (sadly, we lost them in the divorce). Daniel used more traditional cheeses, but he also added a very small amount of water in which a pinch of bicarbonate of soda had been dissolved; he said it aids digestion. But be really careful, it tends to really, really bubble up the cheese! Happy new year to you too; I am also enjoying our new “friendship”. Here’s to yet another amazing year!
Charles says
Hi Eva – it’s really great isn’t? I love the tip of adding some bicarbonate of soda – it can be a very heavy dish after a while so anything which can aid in the digestion sounds good to me!
Happy new year to both you and your husband 🙂 I hope you’ve made some good resolutions! 😉
Hyosun Ro says
Beautiful photo of Sweden! Although I love cheese, fondue is something I’ve never made at home. Thanks for the great introduction and recipe. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Sweden. Happy New Year!
Charles says
Thanks Hyosun – I hope have a chance to try making this one day – it’s really fun to make, and to eat. Not very difficult at all – you just need the fondue pot and you’re good to go 🙂
kristy says
Happy New Year to you as well Charles!! I’m very happy to have “met” you too. I really do enjoy reading your recipes and stories and getting to see all of your fabulous photos! Speaking of – I can’t believe sunset was at 11:30 in the a.m.! Crazy. That just blew Mr. N’s mind. Enjoy the rest of your trip and I’m definitely going to have to try this fondue. I love a good comforting cheese fondue. Mmmmm. Happy New Year! Here’s to a great 2012!
Charles says
Thanks Kristy, I’m really looking forward to posting some more photos when I get back home. It’s pretty incredible… the sun is so low every day that you can’t really see it – only catching a few “rays” when the sun is setting, but because it is so low the sun set is long – it will start disappearing around 11.30, but stay light, getting progressively darker until 2.30pm. By 3pm it’s blacker than coal outside! If we were even further north then there’d be even less light… like, a LOT less. Go to Google and type in “sunrise Kiruna” and “sunset Kiruna”… they get about half an hour off daylight these days, and if you search for “sunrise Tromso” / “sunset Tromso” (Tromsø is a town even further north in Norway) you just see a message saying “The sun never rises these days” – ouch 😀
shuhan says
happy new year charles! that looks awesome, how can one go wrong with melted cheese (: “My wife and I spent several great evenings with him and his wife, laughing the evening away over a giant bowl of melted cheese” that sounds like a perfect picture to me!
Charles says
Thanks Shuhan – I hope you had a wonderful new year yourself 🙂 Have a wonderful 2012 too 🙂
Cooking Gallery says
Hi Charles,
Happy New Year 2012 :)!! We wanted to have fondue too but since we don’t have a fondue kit, we made raclette instead, but still with a lot of cheese ;). In Germany I think we always fill the fondue pot with oil instead of cheese, that’s why I am not so fond of it because I always feel like that I gain 1 kg everytime I ‘deep fry’ a piece of meat in the pot ;).
I’ve never tried this type of fondue with melted cheese. It looks and sounds delicious! If I should buy a fondue kit one day, I’d definitely buy the one that’s for cheese not oil…Enjoy the rest of your holidays :)!
Charles says
Hi CG – I’ve heard of the “non-cheese” types of fondue… They sound really interesting, though to be honest I think my favourite is the Chinese style one, where you drop the meat into a hot stock/soup mix to cook. Cheese fondue is fantastic, but it’s also very heavy, and I don’t think this would alleviate your feeling of having gained a kilo 😀 Worth a try though! 🙂
Happy new year!!!
A_Boleyn says
I haven’t had fondue in 30 yrs since a friend whose parents had a couple of sets treated us to a trio of fondues … cheese, broth (to which you add noodles at the end) and finally a chocolate one in which to dip fruit and pound cake. It was a lot of fun as I recall. 🙂
Charles says
Fruit and pound cake? Yum – I heard of dipping in fruit to the chocolate before, but never cake… sounds like an awesome idea!
Kelly @ Inspired Edibles says
What a lovely photo Charles… books could be written from it. I’m with Eva. I pretty much adore cheese fondue and raclette… we savoured our cheese fondue on Christmas eve. I agree, sour pickles are a must and, at our table, so are sour onions (little white pickled onions) and baby potatoes… OH.MY. It’s January 1st and the stores are closed but I now have an enormous craving for fondue!!! Happy New Year Charles.
Charles says
Hi Kelly 🙂 Thanks for your kind comments! It’s always good to find a fellow fondue lover! I think I served potato when my mother had it once, as she’s a vegetarian and doesn’t eat meat, although I think I’d normally find potatoes too a little heavy with all the billion calories of cheese 😀
Looking forward to showing you some more photos! Happy new year 🙂
Jen says
I just ate a ton of food and I’m seriously drooling over this, I love CHEESE! This looks so wonderful! Happy New Year!
Charles says
Hehe, thanks Jen 🙂 Hope you get a chance to try one sometime!
Greg says
When I try to say that it sounds like: got your guitar?, but it’s a bad Southern Gee-tar sound. Better leave the Swedish to the experts. Anyway, this fondue looks fantastic.
Charles says
Haha, it would sound a bit like “Gott Nitt Or”. I think I won’t be eating fondue again for a while. I think the cheese ball it leaves takes about a year to digest, and then you’re safe to eat another one again 😀
Jesica @ Pencil Kitchen says
this gives me an idea for sausage cheese fondue! That sounds awesome!
Charles says
Hi Jesica – Sausage cheese fondue sounds awesome! I hope you post about it if you do decide to give it a go… Would love to see how it turns out 🙂
Ann says
Oh, my! That looks absolutely delicious! I LOVE fondues – every time you have one it’s a party! Happy New Year!
Charles says
Definitely Ann – real festive, fun food 🙂 Certainly not something to have *too* often though 😀
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Nothing screams New Year as elegantly as fondue 🙂
Happy New Year!!
Charles says
Thanks Kiran! You too!
Barb @ Profiteroles & Ponytails says
I thought I knew my cheeses and wines, but you’ve introduced me to some new ones to check out. Our tradition is to have cheese fondue on Christmas Eve and I usually discover around 3 or 4 pm that I’m out of fondue fuel, so my husband has to run to the hardware store. Now I know that we can use the slow cooker in a pinch!
Charles says
Hi Barb – Yeah, it’s not ideal… you need to put it on high and even then it’s pretty slow. A real fondue pot would of course be preferable but at least I know now 🙂 You’ll have to tell me if you’re able to find these cheeses (and the wine) where you are. I usually don’t like posting recipes with ingredients which are completely unobtainable in other countries. France has a LOT of cheeses and I doubt even a tiny percentage of them are exported so I’d be very interested if you can see these ones!
Barb @ Profiteroles & Ponytails says
I will keep you posted on this Charles. We have a couple specialy cheese shops with an extensive collection from France, so I’d say there’s a good possibility I’ll find them. If not, it is still educational to learn about new cheeses.
Sissi says
Happy New Year, Charles! Your foundue recipe goes perfectly well with the photo and the description of short days in this region. There is nothing more cheering on a cold Winter day than a hearty cheese fondue!
Your fondue looks gorgeous! I love it, but as you say, the cheese ball in the stomach is a weird feeling and it makes me feel guilty… especially since I find fondu difficult to stop eating… I must admit I have never tasted the French fondue, only the Swiss one. I don’t know if you have ever tasted a Swiss fondue, but it’s made from Swiss cheese varieties (the most typical is made with Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois) and of course kirsch and wine. My favourite is with green pepper corns. I can only say it’s excellent (since I have no comparison) and I hope you taste it one day!
There is a funny Swiss trick (not practiced throughout the whole fondue dinner, but just one or two forkfuls): you fill a small glass with kirsch, you dip your bread piece in it and only afterwards take a portion of fondue. I have tried it and frankly it gives an exciting twist to the whole cheese feast 😉
Charles says
Hi Sissi, I love the idea of Swiss fondue and the little “trick” you mentioned. I think when I’ve managed to shed a couple of these holiday kilos, and while it’s still cold, I will try and give it a go (with the green peppercorns too… Yum!) My local store sells a lot of cheese (but of course, c’est la France!) (though they don’t sell halloumi… grrrr!!!!) and I’ve seen Vacherin Fribourgeois there I believe. Are there specific ratios or is it a “personal preference” type thing?
Thanks for your kind comments! I’ve taken some wonderful photos and although I’m not looking forward to going home (who does, after a holiday?) I can’t wait to post some stories about my trip, with some photos which will hopefully give people a bit of insight into the country 🙂
Sissi says
Hi Charles, I’m looking forward to see your snowy photos. I also have difficulties with getting back to the normal life rhythm 😉
I will ask my husband about the Swiss fondue proportions and green peppers etc.. He is the fondue specialist at home 🙂
Charles says
Thanks Sissi – looking forward to hearing about it 🙂
Caroline says
Thanks for sharing that gorgeous photo in Sweden…wow! This fondue sounds spectacular as well. Happy New Year, Charles!!! 🙂
Charles says
Thanks Caroline! Stay tuned for more photos after I return home (boo! 🙁 ) Happy New Year to you too!
bakingaddict says
Gott Nytt År Charles! The photos look great – sunset and fondue! I love fondue and had quite a lot when I went to Switzerland. It’s good to know you can use a slow cooker as I have one of those but it’s probably not a good idea to consume so much cheese! Its been great getting to know your blog and I look forward to reading more this year. I hope 2012 is everything you wish for and more 🙂
Charles says
Thanks Bakingaddict! And to you too! It’s definitely a once or twice a year type of dish. You also need to make sure you’re really hungry and pace yourself! This stuff fills you up *fast*! Looking forward to reading more posts from you too 🙂
Gourmantine says
Happy New Year Charles!! That is one delicious looking fondue, I love to eat them in winter (just that winter hasn’t arrived yet…) Have a nice time in Sweden, I’m rather a bit jealous of the snow 🙂
Charles says
Thanks Gourmantine! I fulfilled a “life-long dream” tonight of jumping into a snow-drift almost up to my head in depth 😀 The temperature here has risen a bit… it’s still below 0 celsius and it’s been snowing plenty, but at least it isn’t quite so bitterly cold!
A_Boleyn says
Cheese and crusty bread. What’s not too like. 🙂 Hope you had a great New Year with family and friends.
Charles says
Thanks A_Boleyn! I did indeed… celebrating in the proper way too… setting off fireworks at midnight is really fun, but for some reason people don’t seem to do this so much in England!
A_Boleyn says
Someone in my neighbourhood sets off fireworks whenever there’s a holiday. I heard fireworks on New Year’s Eve but didn’t go looking for them. 🙂
Charles says
There was a veritable “fire-fest” around here on NYE… you could see fireworks in all directions. What was beautiful was the little rice-paper lanterns with candles inside which people were sending up into the air… they looked so pretty, drifting away!
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Happy New Year Charles. I have so enjoyed your blog during 2011 and am looking forward to your posts in 2012. Not only are you a good cook but you have such a great personality that shines through your writing. I have to go looking for my fondue pot now…the cheese will be another challenge all together. I think I’ll have to be creative.
Charles says
Thanks Karen, you’re so kind to say such things! I love reading your blog too and really enjoyed “coming on holiday” with you when you came to Europe. Reading those posts and seeing the lovely photos was a really fun part of my day. Let me know if you give this a try – I’m intrigued which cheeses you might choose! 😉
Sook says
Strangely enough, I have not tried fondue yet… I know I’m missing out.. 🙂
Charles says
Thanks Sook – you definitely are. You have to give this a try!
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
Happy New Year Charles! What a beautiful scenery of Sweden! I wish to visit Europe one day including Sweden, so I’d love to see more pictures.
Now fondue! Yum! I haven’t had it for…maybe several years now. I went to this famous fondue restaurant before and really enjoyed the experience. I wanted to buy the fondue kit but then forgot about it. It’s like Western style “hot pot”. =) We need a variation besides Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki. This is a nice alternatives! Thanks for sharing this post. 🙂
Charles says
Thanks Nami, and to you too. If you do ever decide to come here, be sure to drop by France and I’ll be sure to welcome you to Paris 🙂 I’m looking forward to posting more photos soon. Such great memories 🙂 I love how in Asia the hot-pot things are stuff like shabu shabu, and then what do we have here in Europe? Giant pots of molten cheese… just dripping with fat and waiting to clog your arteries :p Well… it’s good once a year or so! I hope you have a chance to give it a try… I’m sure you could make a wonderful variation with beautiful photos!
Marianna says
I totally forgot to buy that gel that we were talking about for fondue ( I will try to order it online maybe… Though I really, REALLY need a diet after the holidays, so no cheese and no chocolate fondue for me (
Charles says
Best to remove all temptation… Don’t buy the gel until march, then there’s no risk 😀
thebigfatnoodle says
I’ve just discovered your blog and love it. I’m going skiing in March and can’t wait to tuck into a proper cheese fondue again – i love the ones with morelle mushrooms. One request for 2012 if I may – more recipes please 🙂
Charles says
Thanks so much for dropping by Noodle, and welcome! 🙂 I love ones with morelles too – they’re a fabulous addition… I should have mentioned that actually 🙂 I try to post every 3 days, so check back soon 🙂
Linda says
Happy New Years Charles. I’ve had a hard time getting your blog to load of late – so I haven’t been able to stop by. Even tonight it was very slow??? But, I am persistent, thankfully. My whole family loves Fondue. My girls first tried it when we were in Switzerland – a little spot named Goldern and a little inn named Hotel Gletscherblick. It was sheer heaven in the mountains! I’ll have to muster up the nerve to try this – maybe I’ll drink that first glass of wine and add another to the cheese pot! Yum!
Charles says
Hi Linda – I wonder why you’ve been having such problems visiting? I’m always interested to hear about the technical problems, but the problem is, it’s very difficult to troubleshoot alas. I wish there was a “turn off all problems” switch to make everything magically work. I was visiting almost each day from Sweden and didn’t notice any problems except one time… Maybe it’s a bottleneck somewhere else in the “inter-tubes” 😀
I’d love to go to Switzerland – I don’t ski… I’d love to just go for the fresh mountain air. I found a town really stuck up in the mountains by scouring Google maps, called Göschenen, with a mountain lake nearby… I hope one day I can take a vacation up there!
Pure Complex says
For two days I couldn’t get on this blog. I have no idea what was up but it wouldn’t let me on. So I forced my way back to your blog because you know I love it here. Now onto this fondue recipe.. LOVE IT! I really love fondue and I’m going to use this
Charles says
Hi Kay – good to see you back! Did you see any error message or anything like that?
Hope you enjoy the fondue!
Chopinand @ ChopinandMysaucepan says
Dear Charles,
I have loved fondue since I was a kid but strangely I have never had the cheese style before. It was always the raw beef fillets cut into cubes and then dipped into a small pot of oil. The tasty sauces and melty cheese as small plates of dipping sauces were always incredible.
Charles says
Hi Chopinand,
Thanks for dropping by! Isn’t it strange? I’ve never tried the oil style before, but now I really want to. Will make a nice change to the cheese variety! It’s good though – I would recommend giving it a try if you can 🙂
Hope you’re having a good weekend 🙂
Jean | Delightful Repast says
Oh Charles, why? Why did you make something so high in calories look so irresistable to me? Haven’t even thought of fondue in years, but now I must have it!
Charles says
Hi Jean! Haha 🙂 It’s something about long strings of hot cheese that make it hard to resist isn’t it? 😀 Hope you can give it a try, but I can’t be held responsible for any weight gain caused by fondue indulgence 😉
Melissa Placzek says
This looks totally fabulous. Per usual! xoxo
~Melissa
Charles says
Thanks so much Melissa – it was fab! Hope you’re having a good weekend 🙂