Because you never know when you might suddenly find yourself on a trivia game show, we’ve done the legwork for you and pulled together some facts about fondue.
Fondue is the ever-amazing art of dipping fruit, cheese, cooked meat, cake, bread and whatever else takes your fancy into warm melted cheese or chocolate.
The word ‘fondue’ is French. It comes from the past particle of the verbfondre, which means to melt.
But fondue itself is Swiss, specifically from the western part of Switzerland where French is spoken. Here’s some bonus trivia for you: Switzerland has four official languages which are German, French, Italian and Romansh—English, while not an official language, is also widely spoken.
The very first fondue recipe is found in a recipe book published in Zurich, Switzerland in 1699. It calls for a blend of melted cheese and wine in which you dip bread.
By 1875, fondue was billed as a national dish of Switzerland but it was really in the 1930s that fondue really took off, heavily promoted by Swiss Cheese Union.
Chocolate fondue was invented in New York City in the early 1960s...by a Swiss.
Konrad Egli, owner of the restaurant Chalet Suisse, wanted to add a dessert version of fondue to the menu. His version of chocolate fondue had chocolate, heavy cream and kirsch, a type of cherry brandy that’s originally from Germany.
Our version of fondue is simpler but no less satisfying. You can get therecipe onlineorfrom our video. All you need is ourCeramic Fondue Pot, your favourite type of solid chocolate and someone awesome to share the fondue with, like your mom.
