The Everything Fondue Party Book: Cooking Tips, Decorating Ideas, And over 250 Crowd-pleasing Recipes

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the talented, creative minds at Adams Media for their guidance and support. In particular, I'd like to thank acquisitions editor Kate Burgo, development editor Jessica LaPointe, copy editor Tracie Telling Barzdukas, and managing editor Laura Daly. I also want to toss virtual rose petals to agent June Clark, who served as a catalyst for this book.

Of course, a book about food and fun can't happen in a vacuum. I owe a huge debt to my parents, Audrey Hulin and my late father A.J. Hulin, for teaching me to trust my instincts in the kitchen and for showing me the importance of gathering loved ones together for nurturing and nourishment. My in-laws, Roberta and Jim Crissman, have offered moral support, for which I'm truly grateful. My undying thanks also go to the friends and family members who, over the years, have graced my table and enriched my life.

Finally, hugs and kisses to my husband and children. They make every meal a labor of love.

Introduction

A bubbling fondue pot is a party waiting to happen. A simmering vessel of savory or sweet sauce, platters of dip-worthy victuals, a basket of long forks or skewers — add guests to the mix, and pretty soon they're shoulder-to-shoulder, dipping, sipping, munching, and laughing. With this book and a few well-chosen implements, you can make the party a reality.

Fondue, a centuries-old Swiss dish with culinary cousins in many countries, likely started as peasant food. Melting cheeses together, with a splash of wine or spirits and herbs and spices, offered a way to reclaim and share leftovers from the summer larder. One can imagine family and neighbors savoring the aroma of the hot, intensely flavorful melts during cold Alpine winters. Swirling chunks of crusty bread in the communal pot warmed hearts as well as stomachs. Of course, as with many worthy peasant dishes, fondue also found favor with people of means. Embellished with quality ingredients and more refined implements, fondue — from the French fondre, which means to melt — took on the trappings of an elegant hors d'oeuvre.

On the other side of the globe, communal cooking over a hot pot of broth had equally practical origins. More than a thousand years ago, Mongolian nomads prepared meals in a bubbling cauldron heated by campfire. This practice of creating a portable feast every night evolved into a rich, diverse network of hot pot cooking traditions throughout Asia. Each province or country highlights its own lively flavors and ingredients in sociable meals that often have cultural as well as culinary significance.

Fondue purists can recite a litany of fondue rules ranging from the proper ingredients and perfect dippers to the preferred cooking vessels. There are rituals appropriate to specific European fondues and Asian hot pot meals, plus variations that apply to dishes starring cheese, oil, broth, wine or beer, sauces, chocolate, or other sweets.

All of that historic etiquette and trivia is well and good, and certainly interesting to learn. But here's the important thing to remember: A fondue is a way to bring people together to share a meal. By all means, learn as much as you can about classic fondue cooking (this book will help you!), but don't be afraid to experiment. Party fare should never be intimidating to the cook, or the guest.

So, add a soupçon of your favorite sauce or spice to melted cheese. Turn your signature party dip into a fondue masterpiece. Go ahead and dip Grandma's special fruitcake into a warm caramel–cream cheese bath for dessert. All the so-called classic fondue dishes started with ingredients on hand and a creative cook — feel free to start your own fondue traditions. If you need a little inspiration, start with the menus and recipes offered in this book.

Whether you're planning a fabulous fete, a little holiday hoopla, or just a casual, sociable supper, The Everything® Fondue Party Book will give you everything you need to succeed. Learn fondue basics — including different types of fondue pots, fondue styles and techniques, fondue party planning, and more — in the first chapter. Subsequent chapters will offer themed menus for large and small gatherings, recipes for fondues and accompaniments, and a primer on different fondue and hot pot cooking traditions from around the world.

1

Fondue Party Basics

The elements of fondue — even in all of its various forms — remain fairly simple: a simmering pot of seasoned liquid, a platter of foods worthy of dipping, and perhaps a few condiments or garnishes.

A fondue dish can stand alone, with libations, as a hearty snack or a small meal, or it can star in a larger menu. Either way, a fondue course makes the host's job easier. With all of the prep work done in advance, there's nothing left to do but join the party and bask in your guests' compliments.

A Little History

Most food historians track the first fondues to Neuchâtel, a canton in Switzerland, in the 1600s. The basic Neuchâtel dish was embellished by different cooks according to their tastes and available ingredients, and before long the recipe traveled to other Swiss cantons and beyond. Servants introduced this dish to Switzerland's merchant and noble classes, who in turn offered it to visiting dignitaries from surrounding countries.

European Traditions

Traditional Swiss fondue includes the variations served in each of the cantons of the country. Most versions use two or more types of cheese — balancing flavor with fat content for the best taste and texture — plus wine, cider, or milk and other flavorings.

The best fondue cheeses are high-fat, low-moisture. Look for hard cheeses with a 45 percent fat content as the primary player in the fondue pot. After that, a semi-hard or semi-soft cheese can be added for flavor.

Asian Traditions

Mongolian barbecue, or firepot, is a feature in many Chinese restaurants around the world. The setup, which hasn't changed much over the centuries, usually consists of a doughnut-shaped fondue pot heated by a central chimney. In the chimney are hot coals. Beef broth simmers in the outer ring, and diners use chopsticks to dunk slivers of beef and scallions. Soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and mustard and chili sauces might accompany the dish.

In many Chinese families, hot pot is a popular dish to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In northern cities, noodles and flour dumplings are a likely accompaniment. In the south, steamy bowls of white rice will be passed around the table.

However, this is only one style of hot pot. A few hundred years into the first millennium the hot pot, or steamboat, tradition moved south, with homes and gathering places in many regions of Asia embracing the concept of a steamy copper kettle of broth, sometimes in a chimney pot, sometimes situated in a recessed coal pit at the center of a table, ready to provide a hot meal.

Swinging Sixties Fondue Americana

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin is credited with serving the first fondue in America. The nineteenth-century author of The Physiology of Taste spent some time in the fledgling United States fleeing the French Revolution. His version was more of an egg-and-cheese casserole than a true fondue, but no matter. The word fondue made its way onto the party circuit of the day.

The next round of fondue fever came in the late 1950s. Konrad Egli, chef of New York's Swiss Chalet restaurant, added Fondue Bourguignon to his menu and introduced Americans to the practice of communal cooking and the exquisite flavor of ultra-tender beef cooked in hot oil. At the same time, post-World War II jet-setters and corporate climbers were busy traveling the world. After sampling cheese fondues at Swiss lodges, the businesspeople developed a taste for it, so they brought the recipes back to their estates and newly minted subdivisions.

Chocolate fondue is America's very own indigenous fondue dish. In 1964, Konrad Egli melted Swiss chocolate with cream in his New York restaurant and served it as a fondue-style dessert. From then on, hosts in the United States began to serve every sort of cheese fondue, from authentic Swiss recipes to Velveeta dip, then brought out another pot for angel food cake dipped in chocolate fondue.

Fondue Pots

Although fondue pots come in a variety of shapes and sizes, there are two basic categories for the container portion of the apparatus:ceramic and metal.

Ceramic

The traditional cheese fondue pot is the caquelon, a heavy, wide, not-too-deep pottery vessel that holds and distributes heat evenly. The caquelon is a good choice for cheese and other dairy-rich fondues as well as most chocolate and dessert fondues. It can be warmed in the microwave, if need be, and cooled leftovers can be covered and refrigerated in the pot. Ceramic pots are designed for low, consistent heat. For that reason, they are not suitable for broth or oil fondues that have to be heated to higher temperatures.

Metal

A metal fondue pot is essential for oil- and broth-based fondues that have to remain hot enough to cook meats and vegetables. Stainless steel pots, some with nonstick coatings, are available in a wide range of styles, weights, and prices. These pots can be used for all types of fondue, although some come with ceramic inserts to use for cheese and chocolate. (Generally the inserts work as a double-boiler. You pour a little water in the stainless steel pot, then place the insert over simmering water instead of directly onto the hot metal.)

Very inexpensive, very thin metal fondue pots may not be stable enough to use for oil fondues. Make sure you have a sturdy pot before moving it from the stove to the heat source on the table.

The very best all-purpose fondue pots are made of enamel-coated cast iron. These jewels go from stove burner to tabletop heating source, keeping oil hot and broth bubbling. The cast iron can take direct heat at high temperatures and can hold heat for long periods of time. That means less reheating of fondue broths and oils during your parties. The enamel coating, which keeps the iron from discoloring foods, makes the pots acceptable for cheese and chocolate.

The Asian fondue pots, which have a doughnut-shaped vessel for broth and a central heating chimney, are available at many Asian markets and specialty cookware stores. These pots are usually made of stainless steel or heavy-gauge aluminum. Some versions are quite small, suitable for preparing a hot pot for two (or one).

The Dips

There aren't many hard-and-fast rules when it comes to fondue. Use the freshest, best-quality ingredients you can find. Beyond that, if you can cook it in oil or broth, or if you can melt it into a smooth sauce, it's likely a good candidate for the fondue pot. Use the recipes in this book and elsewhere as guidelines, then experiment with your own favorite flavors.

Cheese and Chocolate

These fondues work best when a few simple guidelines are followed. Cheese fondues generally blend two cheeses for best flavor. At least one cheese should be a firm, aged cheese with a relatively high fat content and low moisture content. The other can be an aged, high fat cheese or a semi-hard or semi-soft cheese. Look for complementary flavors — sharp and mild, salty and buttery, tart and creamy. The classic combination is Gruyère and Emmenthaler; however, you might choose an especially sharp Cheddar with a mild Monterey Jack, an aged Asiago with semi-soft Havarti, a dry Manchego with Queso Blanco, or a crumbly Parmesan with a smooth Mozzarella.

One pound of cheese or chocolate prepared fondue-style will feed four guests as a primary or dessert course. For big parties, keep another batch of fondue warming on the stove to replenish the pot as needed.

Chocolate fondue is, essentially, warm chocolate ganache. Ganache is a creamy, thick mixture of chocolate and hot cream. The two ingredients can be mixed together in different proportions. Flavorings, such as liqueurs, fruits, nuts, and extracts, can be added. Thick, warm ganache is often poured over cakes and pastries to create a glaze. Cooled ganache can be whipped into truffle centers or used as flexible chocolate sheets in architectural desserts.

Cooking Liquids

Aside from the traditional cheese and chocolate fondues, there are a variety of other dipping liquids you can try, including wine, stock or broth, and hot oil.

The Dippers

Bread is the classic fondue dipper, and the earliest fondues probably employed slightly stale loaves of hearth-baked breads. Don't attempt to serve fondue with fresh, squishy white bread or even soft wheat. You'll wind up with a limp mess, assuming the bread makes it out of the hot fondue at all. Instead, use sturdy or crusty breads such as rye, pumpernickel, multi-grain, or sourdough. White breads should be the hearth-baked types with hard crusts and a coarse crumb, or fine-grained but slightly dry focaccia and ciabatta. Plan on providing 18 to 22 bread cubes or bread portions (i.e., one hard pretzel) per guest. A standard French baguette will likely provide enough bread to serve three people at the fondue table.

Meats and Seafood

Raw meats and fish should be cut into small cubes or paper-thin slices for quick cooking. This keeps the flow going at the table, giving guests quick gratification. It also ensures proper cooking. If you're serving meatballs or seafood balls, either make them tiny or serve them precooked, ready to be warmed and crisped in the fondue pot.

Never attempt to dip raw meats into cheese fondue — the pot may not be hot enough to cook the meat, and dipping the raw food could add bacteria to the pot. Cooked or cured meats, such as sausage, and cooked shrimp are fine in any fondue.

Allow 6 to 8 ounces of raw meat, poultry, or seafood per guest. At a buffet or cocktail party where many foods compete for attention, guests will likely eat less of any one dish than they will at a sit-down dinner party.

Sweet Stuff

Buttery croissant rolls, cut in small pieces and dipped in very dark chocolate fondue, are a gourmet treat. Ladyfingers, biscotti, angel food cake, toasted pound cake spears, cookies, graham crackers, pretzels, and fresh or dried fruits are all fine for the fondue dessert table. If you're a candy maker, consider whipping up a batch of truffle centers, freezing them, then having guests coat their own truffles with chocolate fondue.

Libations

It's always a good idea to have a signature drink for the evening — a special tea or punch, a wine flight built around a theme, a blender full of some tropical cocktail, fun-tinis, or coffee drinks. If you are serving alcohol, always remember to have a good nonalcoholic option available for guests who choose not to drink.

For classic Swiss fondues, think of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pouilly-Fuisse, Muscadet, and Chardonnay. These wines should be your standbys, although you'll find different vintages — say a full-bodied Chardonnay — might be perfect for your Brie-laced fondue. More intensely flavored cheese (like bleu cheeses and Chevre) could be paired with such dry reds as Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Then there are regional affinities. For example, Soave or Sangiovese might be a good match for Asiago or Parmesan-flavored melts. Bold aged Cheddars, Manchego, and herb-laced cheeses can stand up to a fruity Beaujolais, a Bordeaux or Merlot, or even a dry sherry.

Bold European and Mexican cheese fondues, as well as very spicy hot pots, beg to be paired with beer. Welsh Rarebit, Pub-style Cheddar fondues, and German-inspired melts go very well with rich ales and dark lagers. Dry, pale Caribbean and Mexican lagers are the logical choice for queso fondues and spicy jerk dishes. Asian lagers have a crisp, floral taste that's quite refreshing with salty and peppery hot pot dishes.

When entertaining, allow ½ of a 750-ml bottle of wine per person. Your guests may drink more or less, depending on personal taste and whether you're serving cocktails before the wine. When serving beer, allow two 12-ounce bottles per person.

Fon-Dos and Fon-Don'ts: Health and Safety

Fondue is by nature a communal experience. No matter how exclusive your guest list, or how pricey your ingredients, a fondue meal has a casual air. Still, there are a few rules to ensure everybody's safety and comfort:

Never fill a pot more than illustration full for oil fondue. If oil must be reheated or more oil added, move the fondue