We actually do fondue on occasion, and have an electric fondue pot to make it all the easier. Plus, of course, we also visit the local Melting Pot as well a few times a year.
Reading listening about how fondue became a Thing was pretty darned interesting.
Originally shared by +The Bruce, Mile High:
The Arabs and the …. Swiss?
For my favorite gourmet, +Margie Kleerup
Episode 575: The Fondue Conspiracy
The popularity of fondue wasn’t an accident. It was planned by a cartel of Swiss cheese makers, which ruled the Swiss economy for 80 years.
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I can remember my folks having one, but I can't recall ever seeing it used after the 70's came to an end.
Cheese on bread (and on apples and veggies). Tasty stuff, and no more of a mess than taco night.
I wouldn't have a party centered around fondue, but as something fun, it's an enjoyable thing. Though turtlenecks and plaid sports coats are optional these days.
My mom occasionally made fondue. I like the little weenies, but hated all the sauces. Still do.
We did fondue in our household for decades. My daughter and her son still have it on New Year’s Eve – as a family tradition. Perhaps it’s because I was unable to listen to the whole episode (my computer isn’t fond of NPR for some reason) and am missing some salient point, but seriously…eating stale bread dipped in or covered with melted cheese is a heckuva lot older than 80 years. Has no one heard of Welsh rarebit? Some of the first recipes for that appeared in the 1700s. But perhaps they are just talking about the pot and those long forks?
@Ellie – Cheese-on-toast, well, yeah, that’s been a tradition since there’s been either. The “sales” story was as much about how the specifics of the Swiss tradition were punched up, mythologized, and made part of a concerted PR campaign in order to sell Swiss cheese and support its producers.
@Dave
Thanks for explaining. I still can’t get the darn thing to play!