Fondues are a group of distinct dishes that can be either savoury or sweet. Cheese fondue, originating in Switzerland, is the original fondue, hence the French term ''fondue'' for "melted". Since the 1950s, however, the term ''fondue'' has been generalized to a number of other dishes in which a food is dipped or cooked into a communal pot kept hot. Fondue eaten as a communal meal is referred to as a fondue party. Konrad Egli, a Swiss restaurateur, is credited for the introduction of ''fondue bourguignonne'' at his Chalet Suisse restaurant in 1956. In the mid-1960s, he also invented chocolate fondue as part of a

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for

Toblerone Toblerone ( , ) is a Swiss chocolate brand produced in Bern. Toblerone is known for its distinctive shape, a series of joined triangular prisms and lettering engraved in the chocolate. Since 2012, the brand has been owned by US company Mondele ...

chocolate.Sylvia Lovegren, ''Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads'', pp. 240-2 A sort of

chocolate mousse A mousse (; ; "foam") is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savory. as e ...

or chocolate cake had also sometimes been called "chocolate fondue" starting in the 1930s.

Savoury fondues

Broth

''Fondue chinoise'' (lit. "Chinese fondue") is a common name for

hot pot Hot pot or hotpot (), also known as soup-food or steamboat, is a cooking method that originated in China. A heat source on the dining table keeps a pot of soup stock simmering, and a variety of Chinese foodstuffs and ingredients are served b ...

, where meat and vegetables are cooked in a shared pot of broth, or pieces of thinly sliced meat are dipped with a fondue fork into boiling broth with salad as side dish. Various sauces and pickled condiments are provided on the side. After all the diners have finished cooking, they eat the now well-flavored broth often combined with thin noodles.

Cheese

Cheese fondue, commonly simply ''fondue'', is a dish of melted cheese and white wine in which pieces of bread are dipped.

Oil

''Fondue bourguignonne'' consists of a fondue pot filled with hot oil into which diners dip pieces of meat to cook them. Various dipping sauces are provided on the side. The meats include beef, pork and chicken. Another oil fondue, common in Namibia, is the Bushman fondue.

Wine

"Fondue vigneronne" or "Fondue Bacchus" is like fondue bourguignonne, with wine or vodka rather than oil. Red wine fondue consists of red wine boiled, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, onions and herbs; the white wine version is spiced with cinnamon, chilis, coriander, white pepper and enriched with chicken broth. The guests then dip meat, fish or vegetables in the caquelon and top them with bearnaise,

tartar sauce Tartar sauce (French: ''sauce tartare''; spelled tartare sauce in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, South Africa) is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped pickles and/or relish, capers, and herbs such as tarragon and dill. Tarta ...

or simply French

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

Sweet fondues

Chocolate

Slices of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...

are dipped in a caquelon of melted

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, often flavored with

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...

kirschwasser Kirschwasser (, ; , German for "cherry water") or kirsch is a clear, colorless brandy traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-colored cultivar of the sour cherry. It is now also made from other kinds of cherries ...

. Dessert fondues may also be made with

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

, or

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...

. Chocolate fondue usually uses milk chocolate.

References

External links

* {{Lists of prepared foods, state=collapsed

Fondue Fondue (, , ) is a Swiss melted cheese dish served in a communal pot ( ''caquelon'' or fondue pot) over a portable stove () heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread into the cheese using long-stemmed forks. It was promote ...