Fondues are a group of distinct dishes that can be either savoury or sweet.

Cheese fondue Fondue ( , , , ; ) is a Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served in a communal pot ( or fondue pot) over a portable stove () heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread and sometimes vegetables or other foods into the che ...

, originating in Switzerland, is the original fondue, hence the French term ''fondue'' for "melted". Since the 1950s, however, the term ''fondue'' has been generalized to a number of other dishes in which a food is dipped or cooked into a communal pot kept hot. Fondue eaten as a communal meal is referred to as a fondue party. Konrad Egli, a Swiss restaurateur, is credited for the introduction of ''fondue bourguignonne'' at his Chalet Suisse restaurant in 1956. In the mid-1960s, he also invented chocolate fondue as part of a

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for

Toblerone Toblerone ( , ) is a Swiss chocolate brand owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods Inc, Kraft Foods). Until 2022, it was produced exclusively in Bern, Switzerland, when a smaller, limited part of the portfolio began production i ...

chocolate.Sylvia Lovegren, ''Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads'', pp. 240-2 A sort of

chocolate mousse A mousse (, ; ) is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savory. as early ...

or chocolate cake had also sometimes been called "chocolate fondue" starting in the 1930s.

Savoury fondues

Broth

''Fondue chinoise'' (lit. "Chinese fondue") is a common name for

hot pot Hot pot ( zh, c=, s=wikt:火锅, 火锅, t=wikt:火鍋, 火鍋, p=huǒguō, l=fire pot, first=t) or hotpot, also known as steamboat, is a dish (food), dish of soup/stock (food), stock kept simmering in a cooking pot, pot by a heat source on ...

, where meat and vegetables are cooked in a shared pot of broth, or pieces of thinly sliced meat are dipped with a fondue fork into boiling broth with salad as side dish. Various sauces and pickled condiments are provided on the side. After all the diners have finished cooking, they eat the now well-flavored broth often combined with thin noodles.

Cheese

Cheese fondue, commonly simply ''fondue'', is a dish of melted cheese and white wine in which pieces of bread are dipped.

Oil

''Fondue bourguignonne'' consists of a fondue pot filled with hot oil into which diners dip pieces of meat to cook them. Various dipping sauces are provided on the side. The meat is traditionally beef ("Charolais" beef produced in Burgundy particularly, hence the name "bourguignonne"), horse, venison, ostrich or duck, but others meats are possible. Another oil fondue, common in Namibia, is the Bushman fondue.

Wine

"Fondue vigneronne" or "Fondue Bacchus" is like fondue bourguignonne, with wine or vodka rather than oil. Red wine fondue consists of red wine boiled, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, onions and herbs; the white wine version is spiced with cinnamon, chilis, coriander, white pepper and enriched with chicken broth. The guests then dip meat, fish or vegetables in the caquelon and top them with bearnaise,

tartar sauce Tartar sauce (; often spelled tartare sauce in the UK, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries) is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped gherkins or relish, capers, and herbs such as tarragon and dill. Tartar sauce can also be enhanced with ot ...

or simply French

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

Sweet fondues

Chocolate

Slices of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

are dipped in a caquelon of melted

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

, often flavored with

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

kirschwasser ''Kirschwasser'' (, , ; German for 'cherry water'), or just ''Kirsch'' (; the term used in Switzerland and France, less so in Germany), is a clear, colourless brandy from Germany, Switzerland, and France, traditionally made from double distill ...

. Dessert fondues may also be made with

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

, or

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a confectionery made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. This sugar confection is inspired by a medicina ...

. Chocolate fondue usually uses milk chocolate.

References

External links

* {{Lists of prepared foods, state=collapsed

Fondue Fondue ( , , , ; ) is a Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served in a communal pot ( or fondue pot) over a portable stove () heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread and sometimes vegetables or other foods into the c ...