The ultimate Swiss cheese fondue

Learn how to make the ultimate fondue with seasoned skier Olivia Spurrell’s expert recipe. 

• Fondue origins: The first fondues were made using leftovers (ends of cheese, bread and so on) but they definitely weren’t peasant food – Swiss cheese was, and still is, a valuable, much-exported ingredient. The name ‘fondue’ is derived from the French word fondre, which means to melt. A recipe for fondue first featured in an early 18th-century book on modern cookery by the French chef Vincent La Chapelle, but the dish described is more like scrambled eggs with cheese. Recipes for a mixture of melted cheese and wine did appear before that, but it wasn’t until 1875 that the sublime, melty mix was described as a fondue. The Swiss Cheese Union heavily promoted fondue in the first half of the 20th century. It was served at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and went on to become theheight of fashion during the 1970s.
• Traditional recipe: Cheese, garlic and white wine are the three key components, with the garlic cut and wiped around the cooking pan before the cheese is melted with the wine. Gruyère is often used (its inclusion is what legitimised fondue as a Swiss national recipe, rather than French or Belgian) and frequently paired with vacherin fribourgeois (this combo is known as moitié- moitié or half-half). Depending on where you eat fondue, the blend of cheeses varies and can include raclette, comté, emmental and others.
• Key ingredients: Use well ripened, quality cheeses that melt well. The wine should be on the acidic side to balance the richness. Mustard, kirsch and various herbs and spices are optional extras. The caquelon or fondue pot is central to the ceremony of this dish, which everyone gathers around and shares. Its base needs to be thick to distribute the heat evenly and prevent burning, as the fondue is continually kept warm from beneath by a candle or spirit lamp.

Time for dessert? How about chocolate fondue…