Welcome Fondue Party

Welcome

sparow64 16 years ago

I love fondue. Received my first fondu pot this year, and hope to see lots of recipes, ideas, and tips here!

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pleclare 16 years ago said:

Great idea. Haven't done one in ages. Have some great sauces for beef fondue when I locate them.

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ruskingirl 16 years ago said:

I still have my fondue pots from the 70's. I will try to dig up some of my old recipes, we loved having fondue parties back then. Have you been to the Melting Pot? My hubby and I went a few times when we lived in Charlotte. It is a wonderful restaurant with nothing but fondue. Yummmm....

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knoxcop 16 years ago said:

OMG!! I've always wanted a fondue pot! My Aunt Jo used to do fondue a lot for us back in the 70's too....I loved it! Cooking the meat there at the table was so cool!

We have a Melting Pot here in town...never been but I've always wanted to go.

--Kn0x--

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sparow64 16 years ago said:

Knox, we went to the Meslting Pot in Knoxville last year, that's what got me into the fondue! To be honest, all I've don't at home are the cheesey and chocolatey fondue....MMMMMM!

Glad to see everyone here!

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divaliscious 16 years ago said:

heck *anything* party, and Im in....I love cheese, chocolate, fruit fondues...I look forward to learning new recipes...It's been ages since I made a cheese fondue...

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notyourmomma 16 years ago said:

Fondue Parties are great fun. (I do the "due" at home because I find the Melting Pot very expensive) One of the best parties we ever did had fondue stations at the house with a different pot in different areas of the room, each with a different version of fondue. (swiss cheese classic with boiled new potatoes and cornichons, hot broth/veggie option, bubbling oil/meat with all the sauces, spicy cheddar chipotle with dark bread and french bread chunks, chocolate with assorted fruit/poundcake/twinkies/pretzels/oreos. That way people wandered around and no big group was clustered around a single pot, no traffic jam that way. I just went to all my friends and dug through their closet shelves and found all the old fondue pots and borrowed them. I did buy extra forks and we assigned colors to try and eliminate the double dipping! The teenage crowd dressed up "as go-go girls from Laugh-in or as wild and crazy guys from SNL" and had a blast at the party. We played our vinyl albums. It was a ton of work to prep all the dippers, but the party itself was a breeze, I just had to keep an eye on refilling platters and that wasn't a lot of work at all.

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sparow64 16 years ago said:

That sounds like so much fun, Tina! I would love to do something like that. Yes, Melting Pot is way expensive. I had a gift certificate that I had received at work for a bonus, or we probably would still never have been!

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knoxcop 16 years ago said:

Tina----Can I just say, if I EVER have a party---Girl YOU are the consultant I'm calling, lol!! You just have the greatest food ideas and party ideas all OVER the place in that head of yours!!

A fondue party sounds like so much fun....It's just that my house is so tiny, and I don't have the first pot!

Wonder where you get a fondue pot, anyway???

--Kn0x--

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angelgal 16 years ago said:

At the risk of sounding really stupid...what's the difference between "fondue" and a "dip" that needs to be kept warm in a slow cooker??? Other than one's in a "pot"???? Go ahead and laugh...but I'm serious!!! HELP!!! ;)

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notyourmomma 16 years ago said:

Why you borrow a fondue pot from your friends, or your friends parents, LOL.

A fondue pot has a direct flame and is hotter than a slow cooker. You want the broth or the oil to be hot enough to cook your food that you dip inside, that is for the beef or veggie "-dues" The oil has to be hot enough to cook the raw meats or shrimp, you are essentially cooking a little bite at a time. It takes forever with big chunks and it isn't nearly as much fun.

Cheese fondues are slowly melted over direct flame with kirsch or or liquor with broth until unctous and creamy. Perfect for dipping a cooked potato or crusty bread served with a piquant gherkin to cut the richness of the cheese. Truly an artform developed by the Swiss,picture a roaring fire, pot near the embers, dipping in bread, and noshing away of a savory melted cheese while sipping chilled wine. It is just a lot of fun.

Chocolate fountains have replaced the "traditional" chocolate fondues. Chocolate fondues can be tricky and you risk burning the chocolate or scorching it if the flame or the temperature gets too high.

Most of the old fondue pots use sterno cans with an adjustable cover so you can raise or lower the flame. Newer pots have adjustable electric controls.

Tradition states that if you lose your piece of bread in the cheese fondue, you have to kiss everyone at the party. A different take on spin the bottle....LOL

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angelgal 16 years ago said:

Thanks NYM! I had no clue!! I also have a fondue pot that's been sitting in my cupboard for eons!! I'll have to dust it off...some of these recipes sound so good!! ;)

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notyourmomma 16 years ago said:

Fondue comes from the French word, fonder, which means "melt". It refers to food being cooked at the table with it's own heat source.

Fondue tradition states that if you drop the food off of the fork, and into the pot, you have to kiss the person next to you.

Fondue, a centuries-old Swiss dish with culinary cousins in many countries, likely started as peasant food. Melting together cheeses, with a splash of wine or spirits, plus herbs and spices, offered a way to reclaim and share leftovers from the summer larder. During cold alpine winters, one can imagine family and neighbors savoring the aroma of the hot, intensely flavorful melts. Swirling chunks of crusty bread in the communal pot warmed hearts as well stomachs. Of course, as with many worthy peasant dishes, fondue also found favor with people of means. Embellished with higher-quality ingredients and more refined implements, fondue--taken from the French “fondre” which means “to melt”--took on the trappings of an elegant hors d’oeuvre.

On the other side of the globe, communal cooking over a hot pot of broth had equally practical origins. More than a thousand years ago, Mongolian nomads prepared meals in a bubbling cauldron heated by campfire. That practice of creating a portable feast every night evolved into a rich, diverse network of hot pot cooking traditions throughout Asia. Each province or country showcases its own lively flavors and ingredients in sociable meals that often have cultural as well as culinary significance.

Fondue purists can recite a litany of fondue rules ranging from the proper ingredients and perfect dippers to the preferred cooking vessels. There are rituals appropriate to specific European fondues and Asian hot pot meals, plus variations that apply to dishes starring cheese, oil, broth, wine or beer, sauces, chocolate or other sweets.

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