Cheesy, melt-in-the-mouth fondue

A one-pot meal of comfort food to be enjoyed family-style, fondue is a culinary symbol of Switzerland, writes Rameshinder Singh Sandhu

Fondue cheese with bread and white wine

Nearly a decade back, having lived in Switzerland as a student of hotel and hospitality management for three years, like every other international student or expat, I fell in love with fondue — the famous cheese meal that becomes a cynosure for every dining table of a home or a restaurant during winters.

Labelled as the ‘Swiss national meal,’ its recipe is versatile — varying from one region of Switzerland to the other. Generally, taking the fondue pot, two or three kinds of cheeses are melted in a glass of white wine along with garlic, cornflour and other spices. Once the desired melting and mélange is achieved, it is brought straight to the table where it is placed on a burner with a slow flame. With that ends the mouth-watering wait which takes not more than 15-20 minutes and the delicious journey begins by dipping the small pieces of bread, usually French or even boiled potatoes with a fork.

“The best part about fondue is not just its taste but also how it unites friends and families. Ever since I began living in Switzerland, my family and I have attended several fondue dinners at many homes and we too keep inviting friends for the same cheesy affair! After all, no visit to Switzerland is complete without a fondue,” shares Balraj Singh Bal, who shifted to Zurich in the early 80s, from Amritsar.

On the other hand, there are also Swiss nationals who had to leave Switzerland for work but fondue remains very dear to their hearts. Take Dr Ralf Heckner, the Swiss Ambassador to India, for instance. “I do miss fondue including the yummy fragrance of fondue restaurants especially of Fribourg region of Switzerland, where I lived and studied for quite some time. It is regarded as the epicentre of fondue, and my personal favourite is the moitie-moitie prepared with equal parts of cheeses like Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois. Besides trying fondue at someone’s home, do plan a visit to one of the fondue restaurants in the historic pocket, where you will notice how fascinated everyone is by fondue. Vibes from there will live in you forever.”

Intriguingly, one comes across restaurants dedicated to fondue in almost every corner of this Alpine country and its supermarkets stay no way behind by selling every bit you need to make fondue at home. Several restaurants outside Switzerland — from North America to Oceania — also feature prominently on their menus along with an array of other Swiss specialities.

For the love it receives from visitors, Swiss International Airlines also offers fondue on board. “It has to be pre-booked. Though we charge extra for it, still it’s a popular choice,” the airline’s spokesperson reveals. Considering its national significance, in the year 2018, Swiss Post released two stamps — one simply depicting a block of cheese and the other showcasing a fondue pot on the burner with cheese seen melting inside, and forks holding the bread pieces bathed in the melted cheese. Its background, of course, is authentic Swiss — snow-covered mountains and cows grazing in the valley — thanks to the designer, Francisco Rojas who terms these stamps as a ‘nostalgic gesture’.

According to a Swiss Post document, “The oldest recipe of fondue dates back to 1699 but it is only when the dish found its way into the Army cookbook in the 1950s did it become the symbol of the nation.” A chef from one of the celebrated hotels in Gstaad shared, “Many regions claim to be fondue’s birthplace and it is often debated but three things are sure about it. One, it originated somewhere high in the Alps and it’s a meal that beautifully warms you up and takes your tongue on a journey like no other.”