Many of us already have fondue at home. It has become an ideal gift item, and it is very exciting to have it. But it is also true that some people have it parked and, to be honest, I think it is a real shame! The fondue is a practical culinary utensil -with which you can quickly solve a lunch or dinner. It is fun for diners, it is easy to prepare and clean -important, right? From my experience, it favors communication and encourages meals, as it is a group activity, a dish to share that calls the conversation.
The use of fondue pot should be more generalized, here is the advice that for me is essential: remove it from the bottom of the closet where you have it stored because it must be at hand, it must be a utensil as close to hand as the frying pan or pot that you use so much. So you will see it, you will remember that you have that resource, and you will use it much more.
Secondly, since you will often want to use it, always try to have special fondue cheeses in the fridge, or chocolate to melt! Or go wild one day, not everything is in a fixed script: Why not use Nutella, one day? Or why not make a hot chocolate instead of melting chocolate?
Be very clear that there is a lot of food that you can use to dip in a fondue! Do not say that you have nothing to do it, because from today that thinking is no longer valid.
Having said all that, I think it is good to talk about how to prepare fondue. The most common is to make cheese fondue or chocolate fondue. Although it is equally delicious and fun, it is not so common to make them from oil. But let’s go step by step.
Cheese fondues are made with special cheese for fondue. You will find it in supermarkets, refrigerated. To prepare it, you just have to melt the cheese in the fondue pan (you do that in the kitchen, gas, vitro …). When it’s melted, place it in the candle fondue holder, with the candle or fondue oil lit to keep the cheese warm. And you’re ready to start dipping what you have prepared!
On the other hand, you have prepared the foods that are going to be the perfect combination with cheese. I have already said before that many ingredients are going to count here. I advise you that whatever you have in mind, leave it on the table cut into squares or strips. Most things are eaten completely raw, so preparing the table is as fast as cheese!
The classics are toast and vegetables (asparagus, carrots, peppers, …). But as everything is a matter of trying, you can discover many things that go well with cheese: we also do it with green beans, mushrooms, endives, serrano ham, olives … even the apple looks great!
A secret: to change the flavor of the cheese, you can put a little pepper on it one day, another day add some rosemary, another season with another species or leave it again without any addition. And as for the ingredients, the taste of the fondue will also vary if one day they are raw and the other you go through the grill.
Then there is the chocolate one. The process is the same as before: melt the chocolate in the kitchen to keep it hot and liquid on the table with the candle’s heat. Some prepare it for dessert, I prefer to do it on weekends in the morning. So we all enjoy a good family breakfast! What to dip in chocolate is already a whimsical imagination. The most typical fruit (strawberries, bananas, apples, kiwi, watermelon, orange, etc), to the most tender biscuits, including dried meats, toasted bread, digestive biscuits, croissants … and other fruits such as peaches, grapes or red fruits.
Oil fondues are basically for frying the ingredients. The important thing is to keep the oil very hot once on the table. Here, the usual thing is to make them from meat and fish, which well submerged cook the pieces in 30 seconds. Are you going to try Again, anything goes. Beef, pork loin, tuna, salmon … whatever you like, cut into cubes, and have consistency to hold inside the oil.
You see that the fondue supports all kinds of combinations. Some will prefer some, others will prefer others … If there is a sufficient variety of ingredients on the table, you will surely all find yours.
The truth is that I enjoy fondue. I enjoy eating it and seeing that it is a different way for kids to eat vegetables and fruit, apart from that, as I said before, it unites everyone at the table a lot!
There is also ceramic which is more economical and with a traditional design that we love. Very ideal for cheese and chocolate fondues. Aside from the fondue and forks, it includes a recipe book that is always fun to flip through and pick up ideas, right?
It is a curious piece, elegant and, why not, funny. Keep in mind that the saucepan is a mini-cocotte, so it will serve to accompany lunch and dinner, rather than being able to make fondue a unique dish. It is ideal to give as a gift and to get started in the world of fondue if for now, you are not sure if you are going to use it. And of course, you can use the mini-cocotte daily to present other delicacies on the table.
I will not finish the post without first talking about the fondue that has my stolen heart. It was designed in Switzerland and manufactured in Germany, it is white ceramic, and the base is cherry wood and a nickel grid varnished. Surely when you see the photo you will think it is beautiful. Live you would say it is gorgeous!