Observed annually on April 11th, National Cheese Fondue Day recognizes a food holiday many enjoy. Fondue is a dish of melted cheese or other ingredients, served in a communal pot (caquelon) over a small portable stove (réchaud). Participants then dip the bread into the cheese using long-stemmed forks. Cheese fondue consists of a blend of cheeses, wine, and seasoning.
- A 1699 book published in Zurich, under the name “” is known for having the earliest known recipe for cheese fondue. It calls for grated or cut up cheese melted with wine and for the bread dipped into it.
- The first known recipe with cheese and wine was published under the name “Cheese Fondue” in 1875.
- The success of fondue may be contributed to the introduction of cornstarch to Switzerland in 1905.
- The melted cheese dish known as fondue is Swiss in origin.
- The word “fondue” hails from the French language. It originates from the past particle of the verb, ‘fondre’ which means to melt in French
- the chocolate version of fondue, which involved dipping pieces of food into a warm pot of chocolate, was invented in New York City during the early 1960s and was made by a Swiss.
- Cow herders, who had long winters with few provisions, invented the dish.
- The Swiss nobles liked the dish so much that they adapted it from its humble beginnings to make it a dish of the nobility.
- Fondue became popular in the U.S. during the mid-1960s after American tourists discovered it in Switzerland.
- Over 100 varieties of cheese fondue exist, each with a unique name and different blend of cheeses, wine, and seasoning.
- Tradition states that if bread falls off a woman’s fork and into the pot she must kiss her neighbor. If a man drops anything into the pot he has to buy a round of drinks for the table.
- Written records of fondue date back to the late 17th century, when a bare bones version of the dish calling for cheese, wine, and bread for dipping appeared in a Swiss cookbook.
- Fondue showed up in print in various other incarnations through the 18th and 19th centuries, the recipes calling for eggs and often construed as something closer to a custard or cheese soufflé than the hot dip that we know it as today.
- A recipe for a sauce made from Pramnos wine, grated goat’s cheese and white flour appears in Scroll 11 (lines 629-645) of Homer’s Iliad and has been cited as the earliest record of a fondue.
- By way of returning soldiers and travelers, Swiss cheese fondue began showing up on menus at many of New York’s finest restaurants.
- Fondue was initially created during the 18th century with an intention for the poor to be able to eat something. It offered a delicious way for people to utilize old and hard cheese and stale bread.
- Only drink white wine or hot black tea with your fondue and never have a cold beer, water or coca-cola. Rumour has it; it will cause the cheese to solidify into a hardball in your stomach and cause discomfort.
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