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Fondue is always served hot, never eaten in a hurry and if there is more than one person at the table, a cozy, trusting atmosphere arises, which is facilitated by the original way of serving fondue - everyone literally eats from one pot! Having tried this delicacy once, you can immediately forget about it indifferently or fall in love with it to the trembling of an Ussurian tiger, who senses ripe grapes. And in order to avoid the need to look for fondue in restaurants and guests, it is useful to learn how to choose the equipment for its preparation and something else.
A bit of history and traditions
They say that the cheese of Swiss cuisine was invented by medieval shepherds, who had with them the most simple food - bread and cheese, and even wine. To warm up on chilly evenings, they chopped cheese into a pot, poured wine there and, waiting for the flame of the fire to melt the first, combining stale bread with the second.
Perhaps it was so. After all, other fashionable dishes today - pizza, onion soup - originally belonged to the simplest kitchen of poor people.
Professional Swiss chefs assure that variations with broths and butter, that is, not cheese or dessert fondue, are in fact much closer to Chinese cuisine than European. Therefore, further the lion's share of attention will be paid to classic fondue.
This, by the way, is a very nourishing and nutritious dish - from about 239 kcal per 100 g. So losing weight is not allowed to eat them. And you can also hear about the dangers of melted cheese for the gastrointestinal tract, as it raises cholesterol ... However, fondue has many supporters.
If only because the Swiss themselves adore him, but are distinguished by good health.
Secrets of cooking fondue
It requires high-quality hard cheese of two or more kinds, fat and well melting. The classic combination is considered to be Gruyere and Emmental in proportions of 2: 1. Still suitable varieties of latteria, Gouda, cheddar. You can add a little Camembert or blue cheese - about 50 g per 0.5 kg of the main product.
A dry white wine should ideally be Riesling, but this is not necessary. They also make fondue with red wine and even champagne. And if it is still white, then a bright treat will come with the addition of kirsha, that is, the traditional German strong alcoholic drink made from cherry / sweet cherry. It is added to no more than 30 ml per 200 ml of white wine. In principle, fondue does not need embellishment, but it is not forbidden to add various spices and spices, including zest, saffron, cinnamon, vanilla.
For immersion in cheese / chocolate mass, you can take not only bread, but also:
- sponge cakes;
- marshmallow;
- strawberries;
- fruits (for example, apples, grapes, pears, kiwi, pineapple, mango);
- baked mushrooms;
- baked vegetables (pumpkin, potatoes);
- sausages, smoked meats;
- boiled seafood (shrimps, mussels);
- olives;
- gherkins.
And in order to familiarize yourself with fondue in the imagination, to finally enjoy it, you can use, for example, such recipes.
Classic Fondue
Ingredients:
- 250 g of emmental;
- 250 g of gruyere;
- 200-250 ml of dry white wine;
- 30-50 ml of kirsha;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- 1 tsp. lemon juice;
- white ground pepper;
- 0.5 tbsp. l cornmeal.
Preparation:
- Rub the fondue from the inside with a slice of garlic.
- Pour wine into it, add lemon juice and warm almost to a boil.
- Start gradually sprinkling largely grated cheese, stirring continuously with a spatula.
- Combine so that there are no lumps, kirsh with flour, and add the mixture to a fonder holder. Pepper it. If the personal taste of the mass seems thick - splash wine, if it is watery - sprinkle with cheese or flour.
- Count out 4 minutes and announce the dish is ready.
Chocolate Fondue
Ingredients:
- 500 g of dark chocolate (without any additives);
- 200 ml of cream with fat content of 10%;
- 40 g butter;
- 1.5 tbsp. l powdered sugar.
Preparation:
- Put the chocolate, broken into small pieces, into a fondue box.
- Boil cream on the stove with sugar powder dissolved in them.
- When the chocolate in the fondue bowl starts to melt, pour in the cream and, while stirring, wait until it is completely dissolved.
- Add butter.
- Continue stirring until everything looks like a uniform, shiny mass. Then you can start a treat.
How to choose a fund holder
Cookware for making fondue is something like a saucepan on a stand, at the bottom of which is a heating element. So the devices are divided into:
- Burners. The living, fluttering tongues of fire create a unique, unique charm of fondue in which enjoyment of taste and emotion are intertwined. Perhaps this is the best serving of cheese in order to warm up in the cold. The “source” of food is special capsules / tablets, which are periodically replaced. Choosing such a fondue holder, it is worth taking a model with a burner adjustable for the intensity of the flame. It can be taken on a picnic, but it is a fire hazard.
- Electrical. The main advantage is safety, smoothly controlled uniform heating, but, of course, the charm of the whole meaning of fondue is muted.
As for the “pot” material, there is also a choice:
- Ceramics. Such material is allowed to heat slightly (otherwise it will crack), but this is enough for melting cheese and chocolate in small quantities.
- Cast Iron. It is better to take for meat / vegetable fondue with broth / butter - the material is heated hotly and keeps the heat for a long time. But still unpleasantly surprising large weight and ability to absorb odors. If you plan to drown a lot of cheese - be sure to non-stick coating.
- Stainless steel. This container can first be placed on the stove - for quick cooking, and then set over the burner - to save heat. Easy to wash, inexpensive and versatile.
The average volume of the bowl is 1.3 l, which is quite enough for making cheese fondue for 2-4 people (and for chocolate one a capacity of 0.5-0.8 l will fit).
In picking fondukshnitsy should detect
- Very long forks (1 per person) with non-heat-absorbing handles for stuffing food, dipping cheese / chocolate and eating.
- Small plates - to lay out everything that is suitable for serving with fondue.
