Take a Dip!

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The addition of fresh herbs takes fondue out of the sixties and seventies and into the next millennium. So dust off those fondue pots and long skinny forks and get ready to have some fun.

This year, I set off for a family vacation at the beach with all the usual baggage plus a cooler filled with bags of fresh herbs from the garden, pounds of dark and milk chocolate, chunks of imported cheeses, bottles of assorted liqueurs and wines, a fondue pot, and a few cans of Sterno. Little did they know, but my extended family was in for a treat—testing fondue recipes—and we had lots of fun in both the making and the eating.

The word “fondue” comes from fondre, the French word for “melted” or ­“blended.” For fondue au fromage, bread cubes are dipped into a mixture of melted Gruyère and/or Emmentaler cheese, wine, kirsch, and flavorings. For fondue bourguignonne, cubes of beef or other meat are cooked in a pot of hot oil. Fruit and squares of cake are dipped into fondue au chocolat, a combination of melted chocolate, cream, and a bit of liqueur. All fondues are served in an earthenware caquelon or other chafing dish, and diners wielding long-handled forks gather round and dip morsels of food into the pot.

According to legend, fondue ­originated centuries ago in the cheese-making region of Switzerland, where in winter fresh food was hard to come by. One cold day, a peasant, wondering what to fix for dinner, threw some dry cheese and white wine into a pot, heated them, dipped some pieces of stale bread into the mixture, and dubbed it “fondue.” Traditional cheese fondue contains a touch of kirsch, a clear cherry brandy, and occasionally the pan is rubbed with garlic.

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