Cheese fondue (authentic Swiss recipe)

Fondue is an ideal gift: it's a very attractive utensil that you can use both in everyday life —when you don't want big complications and just want to enjoy— and at gatherings with family and friends, as fondue is an element that invites sharing and having fun together.

Carolina, from La Cocina de Carolina, brings us today the authentic Swiss cheese fondue recipe, a very easy recipe to prepare that I assure will be a complete success.

Fondue Savoyarde ceramic by Emile Henry

Today I propose an authentic Swiss recipe, cheese fondue made in the classic fondue pot with a table burner. There are countless versions of fondue: chocolate, meat or Chinese fondue; and from each of them hundreds of variations arise as well.

We are going to prepare the cheese fondue, from which the other versions were born. To make this recipe it is essential that the vessel be as authentic as possible, known as a caquelon or pot, it can be ceramic or cast iron, it should be wide and not too deep, and it should have a short handle so it can be carried from the kitchen to the table without getting burned.

The cheese fondue can be accompanied by different ingredients, although the most common is crusty bread (it is one of the foods that the cheese sticks to the most); but you can also enjoy fondue with boiled potatoes, sausages, cherry tomatoes, pickles and even apple.

Ingredients

1 clove of garlic
½ liter of dry white wine
500 g of Gruyere cheese
200 g of Emmental cheese
300 g of mountain cheese (a Manchego for example)
2 teaspoons of cornstarch
100 ml of Kirsh liqueur
Ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
Accompaniments (bread, pickles, cherry tomatoes, boiled potato, apple…)

Preparation

We start by rubbing the Emile Henry ceramic fondue with the garlic so it soaks up the flavor. We place it over medium heat and warm it up.

Once hot, we add the dry white wine. When it starts to steam we will add the grated and mixed cheeses, little by little, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon without stopping, until it has completely melted.

We will mix the Kirsh liqueur together with the cornstarch, a pinch of nutmeg and the pepper in a glass, and add it to the cheese once it starts to boil; we keep stirring until it reaches the texture we want.

If the cheese breaks, you can add a little more Kirsh mixed with cornstarch and a splash of lemon. If it becomes too thick, you can add more wine and if on the contrary it becomes too runny, you can add more cheese or cornstarch dissolved in wine or Kirsh.

When it's ready, we take it to the table and light the burner to keep it warm; and you can start grabbing the fondue forks, you'll enjoy it to the fullest!

Merry Christmas!