Great recipe! It's the same as my husband's, and it is marvelous. He 1st made this for me on our 3rd anniversay with a bottle of champagne for starters, and he has made this nearly every year since. I have stayed married to this man for 47 years because of this dish. Love potion #9.
swiss guy here, and we indeed do eat fondue a lot, its not just something tourists think we do. however, the by FAR most popular one of called "moitee moitee", its 50/50 gruyere and vacherin. id say about 90% of all fondues eaten here are that one. emmental is hardly ever used and very unpopular. also we only dip bread in it, some people also dip boiled potatos, but 95% of all fondues are bread only. no one would ever dream of dipping a vegetable or so. but the cheeses and white wine used in it, are so out of this world epic, that using anything but neutral, semi stale bread would not add to the experience and mask the delicate fireworks of taste going on there. sorry had to be said, but im a huge fan of yours!
I like gruyere, and raclette as an alternative to emmentaler sometimes. I usually cut up a day old baguette or a sourdough bread loaf. I never heard of vacherin before I'll have to check that out.
Thank you for the elucidation on the ingredients and why the choice of bread & potatoes. Fondue has always been an "exotic" dish that i have been afraid to try because i haven't known "the how to & why for".
As a fellow swiss, I can confirm that we eat fondue only with bread, seldomly with potates. If somebody saw you dipping broccoli in a fondue here, the police and military would be immediately mobilized. /s
Your fondue pot is *Gorgeous*. Made this tonight with a substitution - one teaspoon vodka and two teaspoons cherry/pomegranate juice since kirsch is not available locally. It was delicious. I didn't dirty an additional pot either. I put everything in my electric fondue pot and just let it slowly melt while giving a good stir every now and then.
Pro tip: toss the cheese with the cornstarch instead of adding to the wine. Exactly the perfect amount needed will stick to the cheese, excess will fall to the bottom of the bowl, and the cheese will be easier to work with since it wont be sticky. Also, that’s a meat fondue pot in the video, for cooking meat in hot broth or oil. The cheese fondue pots are heavy ceramic, which diffuses the heat and retains it, so more even and less likely to scorch the cheese right above the flame. I like the ideas on foods to dip...been making cheese fondue for 40 years, and am always on the look out. My fave will always be cubed sourdough bread, but chunks of granny smith apples, small pickles (both sweet and cornichon) and even crisp roasted Brussels sprouts are nice to cut the richness of the cheese.
Fondue is how I was the only Mom in my neighborhood whose kids ate their fruits and vegetables. We would sit at the coffee table on the floor in the living room to make it special. The kids could stand up to spear their tidbits. Great memories! Chocolate fondue for dessert!
I haven't had fondue in MANY MANY years. It was big in the 80s and creeped into the 90s. This recipe makes me wanna find a fondue set. Thank you Chef John as always!
I recently found an epic fondue set that screamed 80's from an icicle type glass base. Nice stainless pot and it's for use with sterno. Goodwill $7.00 w/xtra pokers. Yay!
Here in the French speaking Switzerland, the most traditional way would be to use Gruyère and Vacherin as our cheeses (half and half). I personnaly prefer it to Emmental, so if you can buy that near you… go for it :) Also we usually just dip bread (or sometimes potatoes). Nice to see people abroad trying it out!
As an American that grew up eating fondue pots regularly, I think here they like to do vegetables and fruits because that way they can convince their kids to eat something healthy. XD But we did mostly do bread.
Hi Chef John, great video as always :) As a swiss guy I feel qualified to comment on this, I have some notes: 1. There is no such thing as too much garlic in a fondue 2. Why not start in the fondue pot, gives you one thing less to clean up 3. There are probably more fondue variations than there are cows in switzerland, here's my favourite way of making it: Roughly chop 5 garlic cloves and some chilli peppers and saute them in a little bit of butter. Add the cornstarch, then the kirsch and white wine. Let it heat up, then add the cheese and let it melt. Season with pepper, nutmeg, paprika and a liiittle bit of cayenne :)
Generally we have cast iron pots over flames and we add the cheese in the pot whilst everyone is around the table and we all stir and mix until its ready before we eat, like a good party around the table. And usually only bread with the fondue is served. Now after, there is a really thick crust of cheese on the bottom of the pot that we all fight over, bug big tradition this crust of cheese. And black pepper is grinded on the plate and you put your cheese dipped bread on the pepper. Any leftovers is eaten on a slice of bread the next morning. And there is a champagne version of our fondue which is also really nice. Thanks a lot chef! You did us proud here in Switzerland with the recipe as nutmeg is a must and paprika perhaps but we all have our secret traditional recipes. 😉
While I am west of Zürich, I am just a little North of Gruyère. In fact, I had an apartment about 4 kilometers from the castle. The cows were so close that I was calling my family and they knew that the cows were NOT constipated. So yes, I think I have something to say about this fondue recipe. First of all, a metal pot? And a transfer from the cooking pot to the fondue pot? Sacré bleu, John. Seoond, Gruyèriens but the ceramic pot with garlic. Then they put in the cheese. They would use gruyère and vacherin (moitié-moitié) but we would replace the vacherin with Appenzeller. That is also called stinky cheese. But hey, it's a fondue. Then you pour in the wine, and heat it. We'll add the corn starch in the middle of stirring with a freakishly large wooden spoon (not a whisk), and add the Kirsch at the end. Then the pot would be carried to the table, and most of them would only use bread. No problems using those other things, but they usually are on the side. No comment from me with the fruit and vegies, I think it's a nice touch. The French use the wine first and then the cheese, and it often leads to a separation, or as we like to call it, gum. So those are my comments. Like I said, I treated many patients who had to stir thousands of fondues and carry those things to the tables. Yes, it's hard work. We would never go to Gruyère to have a fondue, since it is a tourist trap. We'd go into Bulle to have a fondue. But the best restaurant in Bulle (my neighbors for 15 years) went bankrupt and the servers lost their pensions. The politicians (most of them deserve long forks) sold the restaurant and let them retire with no pensions. The Swiss love money, and they love keeping their money.
You know it's a blessed day when Chef John drops a new video and the most famous Swiss-born running back in New York Giants history shows up in the comment section to talk about his childhood home.
As a teen I worked in a Holiday Inn restaurant and the corporate conventions always included a fondue bar. At the end of the evening we would eat our fill as we broke everything down and cleaned up. Still have fond fondue flashbacks.
The best part is the "crouton" at the bottom of the pot. Cooked cheese full of the garlic, pepper, nutmeg, etc... Use the skewered pieces of bread to keep it stirred. When we get to the bottom, we just peel it off and share it around.
No we call it, the " religiouse " . You crack an egg upon it, not an obligation but fun. What you don't seem to catch is that fondue is a convivial meal. Another thing you failed to note, is that in many different cultures people eat from the same dish, bowl , pot. And so this isn't different. It's lucky that there's no Fribourgois or Valaisans speaking up. Because then ! The discussion gets very very heated. Always found that amusing myself. Because while they kept arguing, I kept gobbling up !
Awesome - I bought a fondue set on eBay last month for who knows what reason, but I thought I’d give it a try one time when the grandkids are here. Thanks for the great sounding recipe.
Fondue is a big hit with our kids (6 and 8) - HUGE! Lots of fun and so good. We do both the cheese and beef versions. And, of course, CHOCOLATE fondue!!! They LOVE it! Have fun! :-)
I found one at a church rummage sale a few years ago for $5.00 and got 2 more on eBay to go with it...the most fun way of eating ever. Just don’t let the kids (or anyone) put the sharp end of the dipper in their mouth and then back in the pot. There’s a little etiquette involved but nothing that isn’t common sense. Have a blast!!!
@@whitey129 He loves all of the ingredients - I think it's the communal part that turns him off. He's not a social eater and prefers to read a book while enjoying a meal... Good thing he's cute!
The best channel with the best original recipes! I only watch your recipes, although I don't understand English well! In Russia, where I live, you can't find such channels with similar recipes! Thank you very much!
Historic note on long forks: back in the olden days when the fashion was those huge ruffled collars. They did not take them off for meals. Instead, they had freakishly long utensils. So, if you end up opening that restaurant "Long Chef John Silverware's" or whatever it was that you called it, I would recommend a dress code that includes ruffled collars (available at a fine online store near you).
I love fondue! My husband introduced it to me and I have been a fan of it ever since. We have cheese fondue often, and oil fondue once a year. Now, chef John, You need to show the perfect beer batter recipe!
The ingredients are sound (using corn starch is standard here in Switzerland). But you don’t boil the wine and kirsch first. In fact, the best way to prepare it is to toss the corn starch with the shredded cheese, then mix in the wine, and let it soak it up. While you can do this in the (cold) pot, it’s even better if mixed a few hours before cooking, or even overnight. You can even do this up to a week in advance. The wine-soaked cheese will melt more easily and smoothly. Take the mix, put it in your _caquelon_ (a stoneware fondue pot) on the stove and bring it up to a simmer over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Then you stir in the kirsch immediately before serving - you do not want the alcohol to evaporate. And you serve it with cubes of crusty bread. Cheese fondue is about the taste of the cheese. It’s _not_ a topping for ingredients that have a lot of flavor of their own, like literally everything on that dish, other than maybe the potatoes.
FWIW down here in Switzerland, a fondue made with such a mix of Gruyère and Emmental would be referred to as a "fondue neuchâteloise". - If you can't get hold of cherry brandy or Kirschwasser, a worthy - albeit slightly heretical - alternative would be pear brandy, which IMHO is an even better match with the cheese. - Corn starch indeed makes it near foolproof, but making sure you get a wine that's sour enough does help a lot as well. Or add a dash of lemon juice, as acidity tends to unfurl the protein molecules of the cheese and makes sure the mix emulsifies well. (If making your fondue with beer that's not a Berliner Weisse, traditional gueuze or such a decidedly sour beer, adding a splash of lemon juice or vinegar is mandatory. By the way a cheese fondue with a smooth imperial stout, robust porter or scotch ale and pear brandy is a pretty impressive alternative to white wine and cherry brandy) - Oh and as to bread : slightly stale crusty bread (baked the day before) actually is better than fresh, as it fits more securely to one's fork and helps avoiding it escape into the pot. :o)
As a Swiss Fondue Traditionalist I disaprove of anything other than white or half withe bread beeing dunked! But luckely, foods are there to be adapted and enjoyed like you like it!
Oh but you are completely wrong. In southern swiss it's wilde accepted to use grapes. While in the west, potatoes are common. In Graubünden they even eat it with dried beef.
@@pasgaf19 the southern swiss are weird... and those of graubünden are awesome but don't know what they are eating 😝 (obviously not too serious about it) and the west... well they are french 🙃
Huge fan of this channel! I have made quite a few of these recipes over the last couple years and they never disappoint. I would really like to see some more sea food inspired videos. Shrimp, salmon, catfish, ect, ect.... Keep up the great work!
John I love your video's. BUT, I have been living in Switzerland for over 40 years. First: That is not a cheese fondue pot! That is a bourguignon fondue pot! A foundue pot is either cast iron or or cast iron with a ceramic cooking surface. Second the absolutely best cheese mix is 1/3 Emmental, 1/Gruyere, 1/ Appenzeller (for the kick) Your prep is spot on, especially the Kirsch. Small Tip: Give each guest a guest a glass of kirsch while eating so they can dunk some bread in the kirsch and then "fondue" it. Do not stir with a whisk, wooden spoon is best. NO coke, beer etc! Tea or wine. Your stomach with thank you! And to help digestion, another shot of Kirsch. Enjoy!!
Well being from Basel, I think he did quite a good job after all. Sure it does not represent a very traditional swiss fondue but it still gives you an genuine picture of what a fondue should be about. Sure I would use another cheese mixture and I would probably use "Baselbieter Kirsch" but I'd like to encourage you guys to use whatever is available / you desire. Go for it! ;)
@@TheSuperMagnesium I agree about the fondue experience. Cheese is obviously a matter of choice. I have seen cheddar and even gorganzola (just a touch) used. A "modern" twist is to make the fondue in a pot and serve it in coffee cups for each person to dunk their bread is. Anything goes.
Wow! As a veteran of many (many, many!) fondue parties in the ‘70’s, you’re spot on with the cornstarch and the all-at-once cheese melting, otherwise the fondue gets grainy. And I’ll take your tip of just leaving the crushed garlic in the pot(!) The Sterno “canned heat” makes too much fumes for my taste for larger (2-3 pots going at once) parties. Also, try adding some Taleggio and/or Robiola cheese if you can find them-quite nice! Thank you Chef John! Steve K.
That looks terrific! My mom always made fondue with beer and it was great too. I can't find her recipe so now yours is mine!!! Flash back to the 70s, oh yeah!
If using beer instead of white wine, it can be a good thing to add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice for acidity, which does help a lot in getting a proper emulsion, so that your fondue does not separate.
I don’t have a fondue set, but we do our fondue in a double-boiler just to keep the heat gentle. Then we put the whole setup on a baking sheet and bring it into the living room for fondue for two! The hot water keeps it all warm long enough for us to enjoy the cheese fest. Incidentally, adding the corn starch to the shredded cheese works out wonderfully if you want to do your prep in advance and don’t want your cheese sticking together.
Getting good heat repartition and inertia is why we Swiss use a caquelon for it, that is a thick saucepan-like thing made out of earthenware or cast iron, which can then be put direct on gentle heat. A thick-bottomed saucepan also works well enough.
Beeing swiss, I have to comment on a few things: the best and most populare fondue mixture in switzerland is called moitié-moitié and it consists of 50% gruyère and 50% vacherin fribourgois (although I could imagine you won‘t find the latter one in the US). Also you should go with way more garlic, the bread should not (!) be toasted under any circumstances and traditionally the fondue is cooked in the same pot that you are eating from… But I have to say I am very happy seeing you showing us fans how to fondue!
Here come all the Swiss folks - like me 😀 Pretty good recipe! My cheeses of choice, and I get compliments for my fondue regularly - 40% mild Gruyère, 40% Fribourg Vacherin, 20% sharp Gruyere or an other sharp cheese like Appenzeller. Plus, I crush about 3 medium sized garlic cloves (for 400grams of cheese) for a bit more intense taste. And the cherry alcohol goes in right before serving 🙂 AND: Only bread for dipping 😄
loOl 😄😂🤣😆 You always cheer up my day when ever I look at your videos, Many Thanks for that !! Heard somewhere that the garlic help prevent the cheese from sticking too the pan if you rub it with :) ...And also perfume if you take it out after, No glasses needed 😁 :)
I can’t believe I’ve only found you on TH-cam now! I follow you on all recipes and your recipes are delicious! And the less than average home cook (me) can make them! ❤😊
growing up my family would 'fondu' very differently from this, so I always thought everyone else was doing it wrong... my mother would place an electric fry-pot in the middle of the table half filled with oil and set it to 350, then she'd mix up some flour, water, and spices. each person would get a plate of chopped up meat, bread, and veggies to dip in the slurry, then dip in the oil to cook it. this was done with the aid of Fondu Forks, which looking back at it was the only legitimate 'fondu' part of the whole dinner. House Rules were if you lost the fried food off the end of your fork it was free game to anyone that could "rescue" it between 'fondu night' and 'taco night' these made up the bulk of good memories I had from my childhood, even though we'd only fondu 3 or 4 times per year. in case you are wondering Chef John, the way we'd do taco night is we'd make all the usual taco ingredients, but place them in separate bowls. each person would get a plate full of taco shells (now a days I prefer soft tacos if given the choice), and an empty bowl. Into said empty bowl we were allowed to add as much or as little of anything we wanted, then stir it in the bowl before shoveling it into the taco shell. this mixing of the ingredients before putting it in the shell makes for a much more flavor-filled taco. don't believe me? try it both ways, 'traditional' layered and then unconventionally "premixed" and tell me what you think. I'd always mix in the hottest hot sauce I could stand and then put in too much. Good times.
There's three more or less traditional ways to a fondue. First and most important is cheese fondue, closely followed by meat fondue (dipping meat in oil). Finally there is chocolate fondue, where you dip fruits and everything you fancy and would stick on the fork to begin with in melted chocolate.
@@recoil53 The more healthy and less hazardous (burning oil) way of doing a meat fondue is using broth, which can be made into a delicious soup at the end of the evening or for next day's lunch. The oil isn't hot enough to give an all around good crust on the meat before it turns to overdone. Depending on the size of the meat cubes you may only get it to be the same shade of gray as cooked meat when it is done to your liking. Unless of course you like lethery meat. ;) Those meat cubes have a size limit. They have to comfortably fit into your mouth in one bite. And they have to be done to one's liking in a reasonably short time. Also the amount of oil is limited by the size of the pot and the amount of heat from underneath is limited by the heat source. Last but not least, there is usually more then one person dipping meat into the oil. Which of course alters the temperature constantly. One counter measure is to have the meat at room temperature. Which is by and large okay if the meat isn't kept at room temp for too long. You have to keep in mind the more surface area the more bacteria are going to spread over time, there's a reason to use up ground meat as soon as possible after purchase. So you also don't want the meal to drag over too long a time.
A favorite in my household and my personal #1 of all the other deliciousness out there. Nothing gives me a bigger dose of dopamine than a bite of this stuff. A WORD OF ADVICE: to take this dish from good to mind-blowing, use Fassbind's Cherry Krish, and then double the amount (2 TBSP for 16 oz cheese). Also, use a very acidic wine to cut through the cheese, especially if only dipping bread or non-acidic food. I have made this exact recipe for years and liked it until my friend made it with Fassbind Kirsh, then I fell in love. The difference is unreasonably astounding. After the event, I bought a few bottles that are only to be used for this recipe alone. For some reason, a piece of fresh crusty bread dipped in this concoction is a blissful whole-body experience for me. But only with Fassbinkd Krish, otherwise, it's just really really good. Oh and 1/2 Emantal & Gruyere is an absolute must. Even the Costco stuff yields affordable & great results (don't forget the bone dry wine).
Acidity from the wine is also vital in order to get the proteins of the cheese to unfurl so as to get a good emulsion, which makes sure it won't separate. If unsure if your wine is acidic enough, add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar. (FWIW when the classic cheese fondue recipe was codified by the Swiss marketing board back in the 1930s, Swiss white wines were much more acidic than they are nowadays.)
Swiss guy here with a couple of remarks: The most popular cheese blend is 50% Le Gruyère and 50% Vacherin The pot used by Chef John is a fondue set used for meat fondue. A cylindrical cast-iron or ceramic Caquelon is commonly used. Traditionally, day-old bread (easier to digest and stays on the fork) is used, and pears are preferred over pickles as a side serving If the fondue starts to separate during preparation, it can be saved by reheating it and stirring in a slurry of white whine and corn starch There are rules that whoever loses his piece of bread in the cheese has to be punished (by cleaning up afterwards, buying a bottle of wine, crawling under the table, being thrown in a lake with weights to their feet) It is common for a cheese Croûton to form at the bottom of the pan, also referred to as "grandmother" or "nun". It can be eaten as-is, or mixed with an egg.
Thank You, If you COULD NOT, get Vacherin, what would you use as a substitute? I live in the U.S., and at my store we have many Cheese's from around the world, but I have been working in Grocery Stores for Decades, and I have NEVER seen a Vacherin
I remember when I was young my parents made one with apple juice because me and my siblings didn't like the taste of wine. Also there was my dad saying "in many a Swiss mountain restaurant you'd get a bullet for that" when we dropped a piece of food in the cheese.
The original punishment for dropping food in the cheese: Put a piece of bread into Kirsch (cherry moonlight) and then into the Fondue pot, and eat it. Of course, the rate of dropped food increases over time, but that's part of the game.
And for the meat lovers there's the dangerous fondue bourguignon, same fondue set but hot oil, cubes of steak, various sauces. Such thirsty work we used to end up frying the baguette, the olives, the garnishes, I think we stopped at the paper napkins.
I love to use a nice pear brandy as well. Also mix 2 parts paprika, 1 part white pepper, 1 part mace. This makes a nice spice to add to your bites. Just enhances the fondue. Goes great with Raclette as well. Also I love to add a little Appenzeller cheese to my cheese mix.
Can confirm this is how my Swiss family makes it every year for Christmas- only difference is the starch gets diluted in the Kirschwasser and is added at the end. I doubt it makes a difference (other than being able to sneak a secret Kirsch for yourself as everyone waits at the table).
I use 1/3 gruyere, 1/3 Gouda, 1/3 Fontina, grade them and powder them with the corn starch. My mistake is making the fondue in the same fondue pot. Not on the side and then transfer, I guess that was me “fonduing”. Only 1/4 times it came out great (the first one), the others ehhh... Thanks for your tips Chef John!
You're not making any mistake here. If you've got a proper caquelon (the specific earthenware, or, better, cast iron pot specific to fondue), which has a good thermal inertia, or a steel saucepan with a thick bottom, you should definitely serve it from the vessel you've prepared it in. It's a lot safer a process than transferring it into another pot that may be too cold. The trick to get a good emulsion rather than a rubbery melted cheese mass at the bottom and some murky liquid on top is to use con starch AND make your wine is sour enough... in fact, most white wines are not sour enough for fondue any more nowadays, and a splash of lemon juice or vinegar will definitely help a lot. And as mentioned by Chef John in the video, there always is a point ion the process when it feels like it is separating, but that's precisely when you need to keep your cool and stir merrily on. Withing a couple of minutes, it should be fine. (Otherwise, to make it absolutely foolproof, you can add a couple of portions of spreadable processed cheese, something like La Vache Qui Rit, which contains emulsifying salts which are miraculous in ensuring good emulsion in a fondue...)
@@SubCapt hey thanks a lot! My parents went to Switzerland to visit some old friends and they wowed them with fondue the first night. So much my mom begged them to make it again the last night. So my MIL bought them the fondue set for Xmas and we’ve made it 3 times as I said, just trying to perfect process.
Here in Switzerland, your fondue set would be considered distinctly for meat fondue (thinly sliced meat poached in bouillon/stock/fond) and not cheese fondue.
I come from a Swiss family and have been making cheese fondue for over 60 years. I make it exactly like you do, but I would never put anything into it beside chunks of crusty bread. We serve cornichons, olives and so-called mixed pickles with it and drink the same wine that we used to make it, preferably a Swiss Fendant out of a litre bottle. I would also never use a metal pot. A clay caquelon really is better...promise. I use 100 ml wine, 100 g Emmentaler and 100 g Gruyere, 1 garlic clove, a shot glass of Kirschwasser and a good tsp of cornstarch per person. It's easy to remember and no one goes away hungry. Thanks for reminding to make fondue again before it's spring. With Covid I won't get to Zürich this winter, even though it's only a 4 hr drive. Grüezi Mitenand!
Such a thin tin pot indeed is not appropriate. But a nice thick cast iron caquelon also works very well, and actually spreads the heat of the flame better than earthenware.
@@SubCapt Yes, I thought of that, but they are pretty difficult to find, especially somewhat attractive ones. I was given a cast iron caquelon made by Staub, but have not tried it yet. Mine earthenware pot is over 50 years old and I've never used anything else.
Family favorite! YUM! Especially around the winter holidays. We tend to like a bit more Kirsch in ours, but that recipe looks good. We have to drive all the way into Tucson's Whole Foods to get decent cheese and baquettes , but worth it. Other times, we often do beef fondue or chocolate. Easy peasy! Don't limit your experience to just cheese. Make that fondue pot work for it's keep! 😛
If the temperature is maintained until the fondue is finished there will be a thin crust of toasted (not burnt) cheese at the bottom of the fondue pot. It has the texture of a cracker and can be lifted out and eaten.
I learnt how to make a fondue even before I could walk but I watched anyway because I cannot miss any of your videos Chef John! Interestingly I learnt that you could eat fondue with many things - at home we’ve always had fondue the hard way, only bread and cheese (I’m not complaining). It did not even crossed my mind to serve it with anything else, but that’s a great idea!
Looks deeelish. The tip with cornstarch is a new one on me. I'm proud to say I have my mum's original mid-60's fondu pot in the basement, sadly covered in dust. Must rectify that!!!
You can also use sodium citrate and milk with the shredded cheese. For the spices, my favorites are paprika, nutmeg, cumin, pepper, onion powder, garlic, chicken stock, and ghost pepper powder.
Use (sour) buttermilk then, and you can skip the sodium citrate. Acidity - from white wine, cider, or any other liquid you add - is the key to get a proper emulsion and a creamy fondue rather than a separated mess.
Vintage fondue pot?!? I received one as a wedding gift in the 70's. I feel like we should be wearing bell-bottoms to eat this. And don't forget the lava lamp! 😅 This was a big dejá vu moment for me. I need wine to go with that cheese. Thanks for sharing Chef John. See you in another 50 years when we swing back around to fondue... the rightful place for cheese.
I would assume not. You need the acidity of the wine. To quote serious eats „the natural tartaric acid in wine prevents the cheese's casein proteins from clumping together and turning the fondue into a stringy, broken mess.“
@@Orangeglo112 On the other hand, being ever the skeptic, I checked & Serious Eats does have a couple beer cheese recipes. I didn’t look too far into the recipes to see if there was some kind of acid in each of them (working on bread at the mo), but that may well be the case.
First! Had to do it. Besides that, I used to have a fondue pot but never really knew how to use it. Now I do! Thanks for covering this. Cheese fondue is my 2nd favorite. 1st favorite is dark chocolate.
Thanks for educating your American audience about swiss cheese. With a variety of thousands of swiss cheeses, calling it simply swiss cheese is just dumb. Might as well call bbq ribs American Meat
I am English, but in the U.S. In England any type of grill (outdoor cooking device) is called a barbeque. In the US barbecue mostly refers to a specific sauce ar dry rub applied to various sorts of meats and usually cooked in a smoker rather than on a grill ( or barbeque as my English family calls it) although any type of meat prepared in that fashion may be referenced as barbeque. Also, if one hosts or attends a "barbecue" (aka a cookout) this type of meat may or may not be served, it simply refers to an outdoor party where the food including hot dogs and vegetables) are mostly prepared outdoors. I guess any of the aforementioned might be called "American Meat" 😄 I love Gruyere, don't mind Emmental, hate everything sold in the US as "Swiss Cheese"
@@siege919 It was just an example for an overly simplified term. Bergkäse (translates to "mountain cheese"; from raw milk, at least 12 months old) is the best cheese imo. Crazy how there's areas in the US where raw milk is illegal.
@@SixSixSatan That‘s because cheese made from raw milk needs to age at least 3-4 months to become safe. And aging for 4 months?? Unthinkable in the US where „extra old cheddar“ is „aged over 60 days...“ 😂
Great recipe! It's the same as my husband's, and it is marvelous. He 1st made this for me on our 3rd anniversay with a bottle of champagne for starters, and he has made this nearly every year since. I have stayed married to this man for 47 years because of this dish. Love potion #9.
That’s a very sweet story. You caught a good one!
swiss guy here, and we indeed do eat fondue a lot, its not just something tourists think we do. however, the by FAR most popular one of called "moitee moitee", its 50/50 gruyere and vacherin. id say about 90% of all fondues eaten here are that one. emmental is hardly ever used and very unpopular. also we only dip bread in it, some people also dip boiled potatos, but 95% of all fondues are bread only. no one would ever dream of dipping a vegetable or so. but the cheeses and white wine used in it, are so out of this world epic, that using anything but neutral, semi stale bread would not add to the experience and mask the delicate fireworks of taste going on there. sorry had to be said, but im a huge fan of yours!
I like gruyere, and raclette as an alternative to emmentaler sometimes. I usually cut up a day old baguette or a sourdough bread loaf. I never heard of vacherin before I'll have to check that out.
Thank you for the elucidation on the ingredients and why the choice of bread & potatoes. Fondue has always been an "exotic" dish that i have been afraid to try because i haven't known "the how to & why for".
As a fellow swiss, I can confirm that we eat fondue only with bread, seldomly with potates. If somebody saw you dipping broccoli in a fondue here, the police and military would be immediately mobilized. /s
I love to use Appenzeller. Also hurt me a little when he added things that are not bread.
Thank you, great information and a look into a Swiss gift to the world 😋
Your fondue pot is *Gorgeous*. Made this tonight with a substitution - one teaspoon vodka and two teaspoons cherry/pomegranate juice since kirsch is not available locally. It was delicious.
I didn't dirty an additional pot either. I put everything in my electric fondue pot and just let it slowly melt while giving a good stir every now and then.
Pro tip: toss the cheese with the cornstarch instead of adding to the wine. Exactly the perfect amount needed will stick to the cheese, excess will fall to the bottom of the bowl, and the cheese will be easier to work with since it wont be sticky. Also, that’s a meat fondue pot in the video, for cooking meat in hot broth or oil. The cheese fondue pots are heavy ceramic, which diffuses the heat and retains it, so more even and less likely to scorch the cheese right above the flame. I like the ideas on foods to dip...been making cheese fondue for 40 years, and am always on the look out. My fave will always be cubed sourdough bread, but chunks of granny smith apples, small pickles (both sweet and cornichon) and even crisp roasted Brussels sprouts are nice to cut the richness of the cheese.
Thx, this is all the kind of information thats helpful. Once time I made cheese fondue and it was a huge flop, gummy and simply did not melt correctly
There once was a man from Peru,
Whose fork fell into his stew.
So he found a long stick,
And whittled it slick,
And now all he eats is fondue.
I don't get it, once the stew was finished he'd get his fork back.
It’s that 40 year old stew from great big story LOL
There once was a man from Nantucket...
@@TheBigMclargehuge I think it means he "whittled the stick til it was slick" like a long fondue fork "so now all he eats is fondue." lol
@@electronsauce
Who ate his fondue from a bucket....
Fondue is how I was the only Mom in my neighborhood whose kids ate their fruits and vegetables. We would sit at the coffee table on the floor in the living room to make it special. The kids could stand up to spear their tidbits. Great memories! Chocolate fondue for dessert!
Next i think we need a perfect dark chocolate fondue recipe so we can get the absolute MOST of our newly acquired, vintage fondue pots. 😁👍🏻
Ooh, can't wait to dip some kielbasa in that dark chocolate. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Oh would love a dark chocolate fondue recipe indeed!!!
Once I had meatballs with chocolate fondue it was epic.
I’m not one for chocolate but I’m like to make a small batch.
Just make chocolate ganache - chocolate chips, cream, butter, heat to melt, stir, dip.
If you thought getting a table at Dorsia was hard, wait until Johnny Long Forks opens.
Let's see Paul Allen's fondue.
Toby Thompson, you didn't even give them your name..?
"Great sea urchin ceviche"
@@BillBraskyy ...I have to return some video tapes.
@@heli0s101 Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a shake of cayenne.
I haven't had fondue in MANY MANY years. It was big in the 80s and creeped into the 90s. This recipe makes me wanna find a fondue set. Thank you Chef John as always!
I recently found an epic fondue set that screamed 80's from an icicle type glass base. Nice stainless pot and it's for use with sterno. Goodwill $7.00 w/xtra pokers. Yay!
Here in the French speaking Switzerland, the most traditional way would be to use Gruyère and Vacherin as our cheeses (half and half). I personnaly prefer it to Emmental, so if you can buy that near you… go for it :) Also we usually just dip bread (or sometimes potatoes).
Nice to see people abroad trying it out!
Vous vient préparez cela? Comme ça?
Nom de dieu...
😒🙄
In my humble opinion as a Berner ;) in the Berner Oberland we do it even better with a mix of gruyere, emmentaler, Vacherin, and some Bergkäse
As an American that grew up eating fondue pots regularly, I think here they like to do vegetables and fruits because that way they can convince their kids to eat something healthy. XD But we did mostly do bread.
Knew before watching that the pun game was gonna be out of control
... dontcha just love it?
👍👎🏼👍
Chef John has always been stellar at cheesy jokes
Not BRIEsapointed.
Same 😂
haha true
Hi Chef John, great video as always :)
As a swiss guy I feel qualified to comment on this, I have some notes:
1. There is no such thing as too much garlic in a fondue
2. Why not start in the fondue pot, gives you one thing less to clean up
3. There are probably more fondue variations than there are cows in switzerland, here's my favourite way of making it:
Roughly chop 5 garlic cloves and some chilli peppers and saute them in a little bit of butter. Add the cornstarch, then the kirsch and white wine. Let it heat up, then add the cheese and let it melt. Season with pepper, nutmeg, paprika and a liiittle bit of cayenne :)
Uhm , yum, what if I were to use cherry cider?
Perfect timing, Chef John! I've been craving some fondue! You are the cheese and bread of knowing what's in my head!
Generally we have cast iron pots over flames and we add the cheese in the pot whilst everyone is around the table and we all stir and mix until its ready before we eat, like a good party around the table. And usually only bread with the fondue is served. Now after, there is a really thick crust of cheese on the bottom of the pot that we all fight over, bug big tradition this crust of cheese. And black pepper is grinded on the plate and you put your cheese dipped bread on the pepper. Any leftovers is eaten on a slice of bread the next morning. And there is a champagne version of our fondue which is also really nice. Thanks a lot chef! You did us proud here in Switzerland with the recipe as nutmeg is a must and paprika perhaps but we all have our secret traditional recipes. 😉
While I am west of Zürich, I am just a little North of Gruyère. In fact, I had an apartment about 4 kilometers from the castle. The cows were so close that I was calling my family and they knew that the cows were NOT constipated. So yes, I think I have something to say about this fondue recipe.
First of all, a metal pot? And a transfer from the cooking pot to the fondue pot? Sacré bleu, John.
Seoond, Gruyèriens but the ceramic pot with garlic. Then they put in the cheese. They would use gruyère and vacherin (moitié-moitié) but we would replace the vacherin with Appenzeller. That is also called stinky cheese. But hey, it's a fondue. Then you pour in the wine, and heat it. We'll add the corn starch in the middle of stirring with a freakishly large wooden spoon (not a whisk), and add the Kirsch at the end. Then the pot would be carried to the table, and most of them would only use bread. No problems using those other things, but they usually are on the side. No comment from me with the fruit and vegies, I think it's a nice touch.
The French use the wine first and then the cheese, and it often leads to a separation, or as we like to call it, gum.
So those are my comments. Like I said, I treated many patients who had to stir thousands of fondues and carry those things to the tables. Yes, it's hard work. We would never go to Gruyère to have a fondue, since it is a tourist trap. We'd go into Bulle to have a fondue. But the best restaurant in Bulle (my neighbors for 15 years) went bankrupt and the servers lost their pensions. The politicians (most of them deserve long forks) sold the restaurant and let them retire with no pensions. The Swiss love money, and they love keeping their money.
You know it's a blessed day when Chef John drops a new video and the most famous Swiss-born running back in New York Giants history shows up in the comment section to talk about his childhood home.
@@coolethan2772 I was a lousy running back, so I decided to try to be a linebacker. Ask Joe Theismann.
@@lawrencetaylor4101 whew boy did i fuck that one up.....
As a teen I worked in a Holiday Inn restaurant and the corporate conventions always included a fondue bar. At the end of the evening we would eat our fill as we broke everything down and cleaned up. Still have fond fondue flashbacks.
Although we could we could go with a plant based sausage, or a carnivore based guest list. Gold!! 🥇💯 Chef John is savage! Keep it up!
Of course, your vegan guests may look upon it with disdain, jealousy and/or longing
The joke did not BRIEsapoint!
@George Peppard Do you even know what they but in packaged real meat sausages?
@George Peppard buying from local butchers is also great. They make their own as well :)
The best part is the "crouton" at the bottom of the pot. Cooked cheese full of the garlic, pepper, nutmeg, etc... Use the skewered pieces of bread to keep it stirred. When we get to the bottom, we just peel it off and share it around.
i was looking for this comment! Chef John said nothing about the croûte! the best part!
Yes! We call it "the grandmother" :)
No we call it, the " religiouse " . You crack an egg upon it, not an obligation but fun. What you don't seem to catch is that fondue is a convivial meal. Another thing you failed to note, is that in many different cultures people eat from the same dish, bowl , pot. And so this isn't different. It's lucky that there's no Fribourgois or Valaisans speaking up. Because then ! The discussion gets very very heated. Always found that amusing myself. Because while they kept arguing, I kept gobbling up !
That's nice that you share the crouton, in our family we become like greedy hobbits over mushrooms (crouton)😊
I use Raclette cheese as one the cheese in fondue. One of the most melty and delicuous Swiss cheeses that works great with fondue
Why would you ever suggest "less cheese" when you could instead say "more wine"?
My thoughts exactly. Just thin it out.
I clutched my pearls when he said "less cheese"!!!! And why didn't he say "more wine"?
I like your style sir
“And by lovely I mean cheap.” Ded
If you can, try to mix Emmental, Gruyere and another one called Beaufort. Adds a lot to the complexity of flavor IMO.
Comté also works very well.
Awesome - I bought a fondue set on eBay last month for who knows what reason, but I thought I’d give it a try one time when the grandkids are here. Thanks for the great sounding recipe.
Fondue is a big hit with our kids (6 and 8) - HUGE! Lots of fun and so good. We do both the cheese and beef versions. And, of course, CHOCOLATE fondue!!! They LOVE it! Have fun! :-)
@@r.mcbride2837 Great - thanks! (I do have a choc. fountain and a terrific pic of my gd with choc all over her face!)
I found one at a church rummage sale a few years ago for $5.00 and got 2 more on eBay to go with it...the most fun way of eating ever.
Just don’t let the kids (or anyone) put the sharp end of the dipper in their mouth and then back in the pot. There’s a little etiquette involved but nothing that isn’t common sense. Have a blast!!!
@@roxanneswanson8305 Very good point!
The deepest regret of my life is that my husband doesn’t care for fondue. Obviously I didn’t know that prior to the ceremony.
Thats not ok at all
How do you not care for something with so many options available... does he not like food in general?
@@whitey129 He loves all of the ingredients - I think it's the communal part that turns him off. He's not a social eater and prefers to read a book while enjoying a meal... Good thing he's cute!
Did he ever say why?
@@sharonthegreat5264He reads while he's eating the food you take the time to cook? 😡
Start stashing the $$$$$$$.
"Yes we could go with a plant-based sausage...or...a carnivore-based guest list!" - Chef John 2021
Edit - Wow! Over 400 likes!
A bit worried by this one. Is that a list of people who eat meat or a list of guests to be eaten. Just asking
@@bigblue6917 It’s a list of people who eat meat. Lol. Smh.
@@bigblue6917 The second option is when you invite over some of your humanitarian friends
@@xanipator9682 its a joke
@@TheCheat_1337 Okay. But don't invite the stringy ones 😊
back in the 70s my mother made the best fondue you ever put in your mouth! We weren't well off so it was a pretty big treat
My Mum did it in the 80s, she was/is Retro...
When I downsized and moved 8 years ago, I kept my fondue pot, despite exclamations of “why??!!” This is why.
The best channel with the best original recipes! I only watch your recipes, although I don't understand English well! In Russia, where I live, you can't find such channels with similar recipes! Thank you very much!
Historic note on long forks: back in the olden days when the fashion was those huge ruffled collars. They did not take them off for meals. Instead, they had freakishly long utensils. So, if you end up opening that restaurant "Long Chef John Silverware's" or whatever it was that you called it, I would recommend a dress code that includes ruffled collars (available at a fine online store near you).
I'm guessing you mean "Elizabethan". Not getting images of Victorian ruffs in my mind's eye.
Wow...food for thought. Nice. Thank you for the education....makes sense.
🤣
Wait is this actually true?
009
I love fondue! My husband introduced it to me and I have been a fan of it ever since. We have cheese fondue often, and oil fondue once a year. Now, chef John, You need to show the perfect beer batter recipe!
The ingredients are sound (using corn starch is standard here in Switzerland). But you don’t boil the wine and kirsch first. In fact, the best way to prepare it is to toss the corn starch with the shredded cheese, then mix in the wine, and let it soak it up. While you can do this in the (cold) pot, it’s even better if mixed a few hours before cooking, or even overnight. You can even do this up to a week in advance. The wine-soaked cheese will melt more easily and smoothly. Take the mix, put it in your _caquelon_ (a stoneware fondue pot) on the stove and bring it up to a simmer over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Then you stir in the kirsch immediately before serving - you do not want the alcohol to evaporate.
And you serve it with cubes of crusty bread. Cheese fondue is about the taste of the cheese. It’s _not_ a topping for ingredients that have a lot of flavor of their own, like literally everything on that dish, other than maybe the potatoes.
FWIW down here in Switzerland, a fondue made with such a mix of Gruyère and Emmental would be referred to as a "fondue neuchâteloise".
- If you can't get hold of cherry brandy or Kirschwasser, a worthy - albeit slightly heretical - alternative would be pear brandy, which IMHO is an even better match with the cheese.
- Corn starch indeed makes it near foolproof, but making sure you get a wine that's sour enough does help a lot as well. Or add a dash of lemon juice, as acidity tends to unfurl the protein molecules of the cheese and makes sure the mix emulsifies well.
(If making your fondue with beer that's not a Berliner Weisse, traditional gueuze or such a decidedly sour beer, adding a splash of lemon juice or vinegar is mandatory. By the way a cheese fondue with a smooth imperial stout, robust porter or scotch ale and pear brandy is a pretty impressive alternative to white wine and cherry brandy)
- Oh and as to bread : slightly stale crusty bread (baked the day before) actually is better than fresh, as it fits more securely to one's fork and helps avoiding it escape into the pot. :o)
As a Swiss Fondue Traditionalist I disaprove of anything other than white or half withe bread beeing dunked!
But luckely, foods are there to be adapted and enjoyed like you like it!
Oh but you are completely wrong. In southern swiss it's wilde accepted to use grapes. While in the west, potatoes are common. In Graubünden they even eat it with dried beef.
In northern Switzerland the purists only use bread. Period.
@@pasgaf19 the southern swiss are weird... and those of graubünden are awesome but don't know what they are eating 😝 (obviously not too serious about it)
and the west... well they are french 🙃
Woah there Mr. Moneybags, us Berners are fine with Ruchbrot ;)
Tessiners are weird though if they dip grapes in fondue lol
Huge fan of this channel! I have made quite a few of these recipes over the last couple years and they never disappoint. I would really like to see some more sea food inspired videos. Shrimp, salmon, catfish, ect, ect.... Keep up the great work!
John I love your video's. BUT, I have been living in Switzerland for over 40 years. First: That is not a cheese fondue pot! That is a bourguignon fondue pot! A foundue pot is either cast iron or or cast iron with a ceramic cooking surface. Second the absolutely best cheese mix is 1/3 Emmental, 1/Gruyere, 1/ Appenzeller (for the kick) Your prep is spot on, especially the Kirsch. Small Tip: Give each guest a guest a glass of kirsch while eating so they can dunk some bread in the kirsch and then "fondue" it. Do not stir with a whisk, wooden spoon is best. NO coke, beer etc! Tea or wine. Your stomach with thank you! And to help digestion, another shot of Kirsch. Enjoy!!
Freiberger Vacheron for me
Well being from Basel, I think he did quite a good job after all. Sure it does not represent a very traditional swiss fondue but it still gives you an genuine picture of what a fondue should be about.
Sure I would use another cheese mixture and I would probably use "Baselbieter Kirsch" but I'd like to encourage you guys to use whatever is available / you desire. Go for it! ;)
@@TheSuperMagnesium I agree about the fondue experience. Cheese is obviously a matter of choice. I have seen cheddar and even gorganzola (just a touch) used. A "modern" twist is to make the fondue in a pot and serve it in coffee cups for each person to dunk their bread is. Anything goes.
@@marilynhoon1031 That works great for a milder, less herby flavour.
Sounds like fruity whining to me
Wow! As a veteran of many (many, many!) fondue parties in the ‘70’s, you’re spot on with the cornstarch and the all-at-once cheese melting, otherwise the fondue gets grainy. And I’ll take your tip of just leaving the crushed garlic in the pot(!)
The Sterno “canned heat” makes too much fumes for my taste for larger (2-3 pots going at once) parties. Also, try adding some Taleggio and/or Robiola cheese if you can find them-quite nice! Thank you Chef John!
Steve K.
That looks terrific! My mom always made fondue with beer and it was great too. I can't find her recipe so now yours is mine!!! Flash back to the 70s, oh yeah!
If using beer instead of white wine, it can be a good thing to add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice for acidity, which does help a lot in getting a proper emulsion, so that your fondue does not separate.
Thank you CJ. That is one gorgeous fondue set. L'emmental Français de Savoy est le meilleur. Bisous de la France
I don’t have a fondue set, but we do our fondue in a double-boiler just to keep the heat gentle. Then we put the whole setup on a baking sheet and bring it into the living room for fondue for two! The hot water keeps it all warm long enough for us to enjoy the cheese fest. Incidentally, adding the corn starch to the shredded cheese works out wonderfully if you want to do your prep in advance and don’t want your cheese sticking together.
Getting good heat repartition and inertia is why we Swiss use a caquelon for it, that is a thick saucepan-like thing made out of earthenware or cast iron, which can then be put direct on gentle heat. A thick-bottomed saucepan also works well enough.
I once made this for 120 people. What a great evening that was.
How many pots did you have? Or was it one huuuge pot?
@@simonl.6338 if I remember well it was 10 pots or so. Cooked in a lab, served in a lecture theatre.
Nice Job! In Switzerland we don‘t use a whisk dir cooking, we use a wooden spoon. Most importantly you have to stirr in the Shape of an eight.
So good to see you again Chef John!
I remember having a fondue set as a kid. We made the classic, as well as chocolate and beef. Just a little hint on the chocolate.
Beeing swiss, I have to comment on a few things: the best and most populare fondue mixture in switzerland is called moitié-moitié and it consists of 50% gruyère and 50% vacherin fribourgois (although I could imagine you won‘t find the latter one in the US). Also you should go with way more garlic, the bread should not (!) be toasted under any circumstances and traditionally the fondue is cooked in the same pot that you are eating from… But I have to say I am very happy seeing you showing us fans how to fondue!
Here come all the Swiss folks - like me 😀 Pretty good recipe! My cheeses of choice, and I get compliments for my fondue regularly - 40% mild Gruyère, 40% Fribourg Vacherin, 20% sharp Gruyere or an other sharp cheese like Appenzeller. Plus, I crush about 3 medium sized garlic cloves (for 400grams of cheese) for a bit more intense taste. And the cherry alcohol goes in right before serving 🙂 AND: Only bread for dipping 😄
Indeed, only bread, and from the day before if you can, as it stays put on the fork. :o)
You need fresh ground pepper on the bread and cheese.
And a fondue caquelon... this reminds me a bit too much of chinoise/bourguignon
@@leahsilverstein absolutely.. but people maybe can't buy this in some parts of the world
@@larrybarnes1794 cool! I only put pepper in the mix
loOl 😄😂🤣😆 You always cheer up my day when ever I look at your videos, Many Thanks for that !! Heard somewhere that the garlic help prevent the cheese from sticking too the pan if you rub it with :) ...And also perfume if you take it out after, No glasses needed 😁 :)
Holy cow! I just bought a vintage fondue set from ebay last week! How fortuitous.
I’m drooling just watching. Looks absolutely amazing!
Thrift Store Owner: "Why have we suddenly sold out of fondue sets?"
Great place to get pasta machines- I told a woman this in conversation & she said "that's where all my wedding gifts go" lol
I can’t believe I’ve only found you on TH-cam now! I follow you on all recipes and your recipes are delicious! And the less than average home cook (me) can make them! ❤😊
growing up my family would 'fondu' very differently from this, so I always thought everyone else was doing it wrong...
my mother would place an electric fry-pot in the middle of the table half filled with oil and set it to 350, then she'd mix up some flour, water, and spices. each person would get a plate of chopped up meat, bread, and veggies to dip in the slurry, then dip in the oil to cook it. this was done with the aid of Fondu Forks, which looking back at it was the only legitimate 'fondu' part of the whole dinner.
House Rules were if you lost the fried food off the end of your fork it was free game to anyone that could "rescue" it
between 'fondu night' and 'taco night' these made up the bulk of good memories I had from my childhood, even though we'd only fondu 3 or 4 times per year.
in case you are wondering Chef John, the way we'd do taco night is we'd make all the usual taco ingredients, but place them in separate bowls. each person would get a plate full of taco shells (now a days I prefer soft tacos if given the choice), and an empty bowl.
Into said empty bowl we were allowed to add as much or as little of anything we wanted, then stir it in the bowl before shoveling it into the taco shell.
this mixing of the ingredients before putting it in the shell makes for a much more flavor-filled taco. don't believe me? try it both ways, 'traditional' layered and then unconventionally "premixed" and tell me what you think.
I'd always mix in the hottest hot sauce I could stand and then put in too much. Good times.
There's three more or less traditional ways to a fondue. First and most important is cheese fondue, closely followed by meat fondue (dipping meat in oil). Finally there is chocolate fondue, where you dip fruits and everything you fancy and would stick on the fork to begin with in melted chocolate.
Oil fondue isn't incorrect and I like the idea of a crunchy coating.
@@recoil53 The more healthy and less hazardous (burning oil) way of doing a meat fondue is using broth, which can be made into a delicious soup at the end of the evening or for next day's lunch.
The oil isn't hot enough to give an all around good crust on the meat before it turns to overdone. Depending on the size of the meat cubes you may only get it to be the same shade of gray as cooked meat when it is done to your liking. Unless of course you like lethery meat. ;)
Those meat cubes have a size limit. They have to comfortably fit into your mouth in one bite. And they have to be done to one's liking in a reasonably short time. Also the amount of oil is limited by the size of the pot and the amount of heat from underneath is limited by the heat source. Last but not least, there is usually more then one person dipping meat into the oil. Which of course alters the temperature constantly.
One counter measure is to have the meat at room temperature. Which is by and large okay if the meat isn't kept at room temp for too long. You have to keep in mind the more surface area the more bacteria are going to spread over time, there's a reason to use up ground meat as soon as possible after purchase. So you also don't want the meal to drag over too long a time.
A favorite in my household and my personal #1 of all the other deliciousness out there. Nothing gives me a bigger dose of dopamine than a bite of this stuff. A WORD OF ADVICE: to take this dish from good to mind-blowing, use Fassbind's Cherry Krish, and then double the amount (2 TBSP for 16 oz cheese). Also, use a very acidic wine to cut through the cheese, especially if only dipping bread or non-acidic food. I have made this exact recipe for years and liked it until my friend made it with Fassbind Kirsh, then I fell in love. The difference is unreasonably astounding. After the event, I bought a few bottles that are only to be used for this recipe alone. For some reason, a piece of fresh crusty bread dipped in this concoction is a blissful whole-body experience for me. But only with Fassbinkd Krish, otherwise, it's just really really good. Oh and 1/2 Emantal & Gruyere is an absolute must. Even the Costco stuff yields affordable & great results (don't forget the bone dry wine).
Acidity from the wine is also vital in order to get the proteins of the cheese to unfurl so as to get a good emulsion, which makes sure it won't separate. If unsure if your wine is acidic enough, add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar. (FWIW when the classic cheese fondue recipe was codified by the Swiss marketing board back in the 1930s, Swiss white wines were much more acidic than they are nowadays.)
Swiss guy here with a couple of remarks:
The most popular cheese blend is 50% Le Gruyère and 50% Vacherin
The pot used by Chef John is a fondue set used for meat fondue. A cylindrical cast-iron or ceramic Caquelon is commonly used.
Traditionally, day-old bread (easier to digest and stays on the fork) is used, and pears are preferred over pickles as a side serving
If the fondue starts to separate during preparation, it can be saved by reheating it and stirring in a slurry of white whine and corn starch
There are rules that whoever loses his piece of bread in the cheese has to be punished (by cleaning up afterwards, buying a bottle of wine, crawling under the table, being thrown in a lake with weights to their feet)
It is common for a cheese Croûton to form at the bottom of the pan, also referred to as "grandmother" or "nun". It can be eaten as-is, or mixed with an egg.
Thank You, If you COULD NOT, get Vacherin, what would you use as a substitute? I live in the U.S., and at my store we have many Cheese's from around the world, but I have been working in Grocery Stores for Decades, and I have NEVER seen a Vacherin
@@drwgisblaidd2650 Appenzeller or French Comte are recommended susbtitutes that might be easier to source.
Cheese Fondue...how 1970's....glorious!
I remember when I was young my parents made one with apple juice because me and my siblings didn't like the taste of wine. Also there was my dad saying "in many a Swiss mountain restaurant you'd get a bullet for that" when we dropped a piece of food in the cheese.
The original punishment for dropping food in the cheese: Put a piece of bread into Kirsch (cherry moonlight) and then into the Fondue pot, and eat it. Of course, the rate of dropped food increases over time, but that's part of the game.
That's very kind of them, to give out free ammo. I hear it's getting expensive.
Interesting 🤔 I was wondering if there was a non-alcohol version of this!
Thankfully there are very strict gun control laws in europe.
Chef John, You are priceless. Thanks for the laughs. And your fondue looks delightful, as well
And for the meat lovers there's the dangerous fondue bourguignon, same fondue set but hot oil, cubes of steak, various sauces. Such thirsty work we used to end up frying the baguette, the olives, the garnishes, I think we stopped at the paper napkins.
Did you notice somebody put in a limerick post
I added one in the reply’s
Yep, I was super pleased to see others joining in. I love Chef John supporters !
thank you sooo much Chef i have been waiting for this vid!!!!! you know you are the chief of all chefs!!!!
I really am *fond* of this, and we were *due!*
Some people think I tell too many cheesy puns, but I'm really *fondue* them.
Haha love your cheesey puns!
Didn't funny, not laugh 👎
I love to use a nice pear brandy as well. Also mix 2 parts paprika, 1 part white pepper, 1 part mace. This makes a nice spice to add to your bites. Just enhances the fondue. Goes great with Raclette as well. Also I love to add a little Appenzeller cheese to my cheese mix.
Indeed, pear brandy often is a better match to the cheese than cherry brandy !
Can confirm this is how my Swiss family makes it every year for Christmas- only difference is the starch gets diluted in the Kirschwasser and is added at the end. I doubt it makes a difference (other than being able to sneak a secret Kirsch for yourself as everyone waits at the table).
Welcome back Chef John! My cooking teacher since 2013
When I was growing up, new years eve was always Cheese Fondue for dinner. We always used a beer instead of wine though.
We used to do Christmas eve fondue
Just too stuffed to sleep well 😉
This has been my food wish since a loooong time, thank you Jhon!!!
Listening to John talk about "guests" as he proceeds to devour the WHOLE plate! 😄
I use 1/3 gruyere, 1/3 Gouda, 1/3 Fontina, grade them and powder them with the corn starch. My mistake is making the fondue in the same fondue pot. Not on the side and then transfer, I guess that was me “fonduing”.
Only 1/4 times it came out great (the first one), the others ehhh...
Thanks for your tips Chef John!
You're not making any mistake here. If you've got a proper caquelon (the specific earthenware, or, better, cast iron pot specific to fondue), which has a good thermal inertia, or a steel saucepan with a thick bottom, you should definitely serve it from the vessel you've prepared it in. It's a lot safer a process than transferring it into another pot that may be too cold.
The trick to get a good emulsion rather than a rubbery melted cheese mass at the bottom and some murky liquid on top is to use con starch AND make your wine is sour enough... in fact, most white wines are not sour enough for fondue any more nowadays, and a splash of lemon juice or vinegar will definitely help a lot. And as mentioned by Chef John in the video, there always is a point ion the process when it feels like it is separating, but that's precisely when you need to keep your cool and stir merrily on. Withing a couple of minutes, it should be fine. (Otherwise, to make it absolutely foolproof, you can add a couple of portions of spreadable processed cheese, something like La Vache Qui Rit, which contains emulsifying salts which are miraculous in ensuring good emulsion in a fondue...)
@@SubCapt hey thanks a lot!
My parents went to Switzerland to visit some old friends and they wowed them with fondue the first night. So much my mom begged them to make it again the last night. So my MIL bought them the fondue set for Xmas and we’ve made it 3 times as I said, just trying to perfect process.
Here in Switzerland, your fondue set would be considered distinctly for meat fondue (thinly sliced meat poached in bouillon/stock/fond) and not cheese fondue.
Thanks!
Beautiful idea
I come from a Swiss family and have been making cheese fondue for over 60 years. I make it exactly like you do, but I would never put anything into it beside chunks of crusty bread. We serve cornichons, olives and so-called mixed pickles with it and drink the same wine that we used to make it, preferably a Swiss Fendant out of a litre bottle. I would also never use a metal pot. A clay caquelon really is better...promise. I use 100 ml wine, 100 g Emmentaler and 100 g Gruyere, 1 garlic clove, a shot glass of Kirschwasser and a good tsp of cornstarch per person. It's easy to remember and no one goes away hungry. Thanks for reminding to make fondue again before it's spring. With Covid I won't get to Zürich this winter, even though it's only a 4 hr drive. Grüezi Mitenand!
Such a thin tin pot indeed is not appropriate. But a nice thick cast iron caquelon also works very well, and actually spreads the heat of the flame better than earthenware.
@@SubCapt Yes, I thought of that, but they are pretty difficult to find, especially somewhat attractive ones. I was given a cast iron caquelon made by Staub, but have not tried it yet. Mine earthenware pot is over 50 years old and I've never used anything else.
Steve Rogers: "Well, what about you and Stark? How do I know you two haven't been...fonduing?"
You always post the best recipes John! Thanks!
Chef John: here’s how to cater your 70’s swinger party.
🤣🤣🤣
“Johnny Long Fork’s” with the freakishly long fondue forks sounds like a winner! Let’s go!
For people that want to avoid adding the alcohol, I was would suggest drinking it on the side. 🥂
why not both?
Family favorite! YUM! Especially around the winter holidays. We tend to like a bit more Kirsch in ours, but that recipe looks good. We have to drive all the way into Tucson's Whole Foods to get decent cheese and baquettes , but worth it. Other times, we often do beef fondue or chocolate. Easy peasy! Don't limit your experience to just cheese. Make that fondue pot work for it's keep! 😛
“and by lovely I mean cheap”. Lol.
I forgot about fondue. It was a special and expensive family gathering type of thing when I was a kid...but no more! Thanks chef!
As someone who works in a thrift store, his comment about it being full of fondue sets could not be truer. 😂
If the temperature is maintained until the fondue is finished there will be a thin crust of toasted (not burnt) cheese at the bottom of the fondue pot. It has the texture of a cracker and can be lifted out and eaten.
I laughed out loud at "Johnny Longfork"…
I learnt how to make a fondue even before I could walk but I watched anyway because I cannot miss any of your videos Chef John! Interestingly I learnt that you could eat fondue with many things - at home we’ve always had fondue the hard way, only bread and cheese (I’m not complaining). It did not even crossed my mind to serve it with anything else, but that’s a great idea!
When I was a kid morel mushroom were the best in a fondue
Half gruyere, half vacherin is the way to go 😂 lovely recipe though, congrats, you can apply for swiss citizenship!
Moitié-moitié all day, everyday.
I am convinced forgien people do not understand how to use emojis
@@Legal_Sweetie333 I'm convinced you dont know how to spell "foreign".😁
@@TruthTroubadour-xi9cc 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 I love when ignorance is countered with intelligence!!
@Ian S forgein is foreign even for internet :)
Chef John makes everything better
How many of you chime in, like I do, just as he is about to say “Thhhat’s right!” 😂
I love cheese fondue. Thanks for sharing your technique Chef John.
Looks deeelish. The tip with cornstarch is a new one on me. I'm proud to say I have my mum's original mid-60's fondu pot in the basement, sadly covered in dust. Must rectify that!!!
You read my mind, Chef John! This looks incredible.
"What happens at Fondue, stays at Fondue." --- Davis (from Corner Gas)
You can also use sodium citrate and milk with the shredded cheese. For the spices, my favorites are paprika, nutmeg, cumin, pepper, onion powder, garlic, chicken stock, and ghost pepper powder.
Use (sour) buttermilk then, and you can skip the sodium citrate. Acidity - from white wine, cider, or any other liquid you add - is the key to get a proper emulsion and a creamy fondue rather than a separated mess.
What if I Fondon't?
You'll be fondout
I fondoubt anything bad will happen
Well we would naturally respect your wishes to Fondon't. It's not the '70s where we would pressure you into it.
Get the fond out of here!
You'll get your due
You've redeemed yourself, this was a perfect example of correct cheese selection and deployment.
Hey, I bought a pound of Swiss cheese, got home, and discovered it was full of holes! Did I get ripped off??
Only if you paid by volume.
Rather buy Italian cheese, it's a hard choice...
A pound is a pound
that means the milk came from a holy cow
You bought Vatican cheese.
Just made this tonight and itnwqs fantastic. I dont know why more people dont make fondue. Cheese lover's paradise
Damn! I haven't had one of those since the late seventies. Off to the local thrift store I go.
Seriously? I had one last week and it was divine.
Vintage fondue pot?!? I received one as a wedding gift in the 70's. I feel like we should be wearing bell-bottoms to eat this. And don't forget the lava lamp! 😅
This was a big dejá vu moment for me. I need wine to go with that cheese.
Thanks for sharing Chef John. See you in another 50 years when we swing back around to fondue... the rightful place for cheese.
When can I get my reservation at Johnny Longforks?
I use Gruyere and Emmental as well but add in some Appenzeller (1/4 as much as the others) which is the recipe I learned while staying in Thun.
Hey, Johnny Longfork, would beer in the same amount as the wine work?
I would assume not. You need the acidity of the wine. To quote serious eats „the natural tartaric acid in wine prevents the cheese's casein proteins from clumping together and turning the fondue into a stringy, broken mess.“
@@Orangeglo112 Ah, interesting. I believe everything Serious Eats says! They’re brilliant. Thank you.
@@Orangeglo112 On the other hand, being ever the skeptic, I checked & Serious Eats does have a couple beer cheese recipes. I didn’t look too far into the recipes to see if there was some kind of acid in each of them (working on bread at the mo), but that may well be the case.
Easy! Thank you, Chef John! Been looking for a recipe like this.
First! Had to do it. Besides that, I used to have a fondue pot but never really knew how to use it. Now I do! Thanks for covering this. Cheese fondue is my 2nd favorite. 1st favorite is dark chocolate.
Thanks for educating your American audience about swiss cheese. With a variety of thousands of swiss cheeses, calling it simply swiss cheese is just dumb. Might as well call bbq ribs American Meat
I am English, but in the U.S. In England any type of grill (outdoor cooking device) is called a barbeque. In the US barbecue mostly refers to a specific sauce ar dry rub applied to various sorts of meats and usually cooked in a smoker rather than on a grill ( or barbeque as my English family calls it) although any type of meat prepared in that fashion may be referenced as barbeque. Also, if one hosts or attends a "barbecue" (aka a cookout) this type of meat may or may not be served, it simply refers to an outdoor party where the food including hot dogs and vegetables) are mostly prepared outdoors.
I guess any of the aforementioned might be called "American Meat" 😄
I love Gruyere, don't mind Emmental, hate everything sold in the US as "Swiss Cheese"
@@siege919 It was just an example for an overly simplified term. Bergkäse (translates to "mountain cheese"; from raw milk, at least 12 months old) is the best cheese imo. Crazy how there's areas in the US where raw milk is illegal.
@@SixSixSatan That‘s because cheese made from raw milk needs to age at least 3-4 months to become safe. And aging for 4 months?? Unthinkable in the US where „extra old cheddar“ is „aged over 60 days...“ 😂