Fondue Recipe (Authentic, Swiss)

Recipe: Fondue Recipe »

I learned how to make this authentic Swiss fondue recipe in Gruyere in Switzerland recently and I couldn't wait to come back and show you how to make it the traditional way! It makes a wonderful communal table dish and is made up of a special blend of Swiss cheeses. I will show you how they serve it in Gruyere in Switzerland and what is traditionally served with fondue.

About This Fondue Recipe

Fondue is a Swiss dish that originated in the 18th century. It comes from the French word "fondre" which means to "melt" and it comes from the Fribourg canton of Switzerland. The town of Gruyere is located in Fribourg and Fondue is a staple dish in this gorgeous mountain town along with melting Raclette cheese. The town itself is a French speaking town in Switzerland and the day we arrived, it was wet and raining. Perfect fondue weather!

I learned how to make an authentic Swiss fondue at the Fondue Academy in Gruyere where I got a little certificate. They shared with us the recipe that we used and I'm, sharing the fondue here. They also showed us how to mix the fondue in a vigorous figure 8 pattern so that the cheese melts. They also showed us how to adapt fondue to tastes. While a dry white wine is used for the acidity, water or broth can also be used or even a splash of Kirsch added too. And Moitié-Moitié which means "half half" is popular where you use half Gruyere and half Vacherin, you can also use your own mix of cheese.

The main ingredient is cheese in fondue and for that I needed to find authentic AOP Gruyere cheese. I found Alpine Express where they ship Swiss cheese all over Australia from Brisbane. Tom the owner who is a Swiss native, was so friendly and helpful and he suggested that we do 50% Gruyere, 25% Emmental and 25% Raclette cheese. He sometimes gets vacherin cheese in but I have to say that his recommended mix above tasted even better than the fondue we had in Gruyere! :scream:

Ingredients for Fondue

• Garlic: a large clove of fresh garlic makes the task easier
• Gruyere cheese: the best cheese for fondue due to its mild, creamy and nutty flavour.
• Emmental cheese: the classic Swiss cheese that is also mild, nutty but sweet with the big "eyes". Emmental is a more yellow cheese so your fondue will be more yellow in colour than a Gruyere/Vacherin cheese fondue which is more white.
• Raclette cheese: a stronger, slightly pungent, nutty and fruity cheese. Again this is a yellow cheese so the fondue will be more yellow.
• Dry white wine: I had a bottle of Pinot gris in the fridge but use any non sweet white wine.
• Cornflour or potato flour: this helps the fondue mixture become smooth and stable.

What To Serve With Fondue

The traditional accompaniments for Fondue that we had in Gruyere were:

• Bread: a sliced up baguette is ideal. Bread that is a day or so old is best as it isn't as soft and delicate and won't fall apart in the pot. The bread actually softens up in the cheese.
• Boiled baby potatoes: boil 1kg/2.2lbs of baby potatoes in a large pot of water with 2 tablespoons of salt until tender but not mushy. The salt penetrates the potatoes while cooking. This is served in a red and white checkered fabric lined wooden bowl. Or try this salt potato recipe.
• Cured beef: beef bresaola is perfect for this. Spread out onto a plate and place a pearl onion and cornichon on top
• Cocktail pearl onions: we went through an entire 500g/1.1lb jar of them. These were a total hit dipped in the cheese (think cheese and onion chips!)
• Cornichons: we also went through 250g/8.8ozs of these!
• You can also use kirsch to dip the bread into. Add kirsch to a pony glass and then dip the bread into the glass and then the cheese. While you wouldn't do this for every fondue mouthful, it's nice to have the occasional Kirsch spiked mouthful.

Tips For Making Fondue

1 - The first step is to make the fondue in the pot by simmering gently on the stovetop. Then transfer it to the stand with the spirit burner to serve and keep warm while you and your guests are eating it. You can cook the entire thing on the stand but it takes longer.

2 - It is important that the fondue mixture is not cooked on high heat or it will boil. Rather set it on medium heat.

3 - You can either use the garlic to rub against the caquelon (fondue pot) or do that and then pop the garlic into the fondue which is what Tom recommended. I always think the more garlic the better so we added it in.

4 - Pre-grated cheese already has an anti caking agent in it so it is best to buy your cheese whole and grate it cheese fresh. To make grating quicker, use the food processor's grater attachment.

5 - Wine's acidity helps to prevent clumping in the cheese.

6 - Use a caquelon or a fondue pot with a spirit burner. I used this fondue set by Swissmar.

7 - To light the fondue spirit burner, use a fondue gel, not methylated spirits.

8 - Control the temperature of the burner by covering or opening the holes on the spirit burner cover. Open holes will create a larger flame while closing them will reduce the flame. If you want to turn it off, cover the spirit burner with the cover which will extinguish the flame.

9 - How much cheese do I need for fondue? If you're serving it as part of a spread with other food, count on 100g/3.5ozs per adult or 50g/1.7ozs of cheese per child. Otherwise if the fondue is the only item, go for 200g/7oz per adult or 100g/3.5ozs per child.

Fondue Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott, adapted from the Fondue Academy, Gruyere, Switzerland

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10-12 minutes

Makes: enough for 10 adults as part of a spread with other dishes or 5 adults as a main

Ingredients Needed

• 1 large clove garlic, cut in half
• 300ml/10.6flozs dry white wine
• 500g/1.1lbs Gruyere cheese, grated
• 250g/8.8ozs Emmental cheese, grated
• 250g/8.8ozs Raclette cheese, grated
• 20g/0.7ozs cornflour or potato flour

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 - Rub the inside of the caquelon or fondue pot well with the clove of garlic. Heat the caquelon on the stovetop on medium heat and add the wine to heat up. Then once simmering add the cheese and cornflour. It will look like it won't fit in the pot but once melted it will fit in just fine (it's voluminous when grated). Stir vigorously until the cheese has melted and the mixture is very smooth - you cannot really overstir the cheese. Then pop the garlic back into the pot.

Step 2 - Place the caquelon on the stand with the lit spirit burner. Serve with the bread, potatoes, cured beef, cornichons and pearl onions.

Personal Note

We made this fondue for the Elliott birthday party on the weekend. Ever since visiting Switzerland I've become obsessed with a) moving there and b) Swiss food like fondue. I figured that a fondue would be great for feeding a crowd. I needed a fondue set but I wanted one pot in particular as it was a Swiss one. The only way it would arrive in time would be to buy one from Facebook marketplace. I figured that fondue pots are the sort of thing that is used maybe once or twice and then resold. I found the exact one I was after and messaged the guy selling it.

He replied straight away and it was about 15 minutes away from us. I messaged him again but there was no response. I left it for a few days until I realised that I had to either contact him again or buy another fondue pot. None were quite right, they were either a bit too small or a bit more functional looking. I messaged him again and he responded quickly. I couldn't see the fondue forks in the picture but he assured me that all six were in the box.

He mentioned that he was going away the next day so that was the latest date for pick up. "How about 3.30-4pm today then?" I asked him and he said it was perfect. "I'll see you this afternoon," I said confirming the pick up.

I sent Mr NQN off to pick it up that afternoon telling him that he needed to count the fondue forks to make sure there were six. Then I let the seller know that my husband was on his way. There was no answer but I figured I was just updating him. When Mr NQN arrived I told the seller that he was there. No response. I messaged a couple of other times and Mr NQN decided that he wasn't going to wait any longer. He took the dogs to Sydney Park for their run. I was disappointed as I really wanted that fondue pot.

Then an hour later I got a message. It turned out that he thought it was tomorrow and he was at work (I did make sure to say "see you this afternoon" but I guess he didn't read the message properly). "I'll be home in 15 minutes!" he said and I asked Mr NQN if he would mind going back. I got his phone number just in case and he came home with this beautiful copper fondue pot. Except not all the forks were there and there were only 5 and Mr NQN hadn't bothered counting!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever made fondue? Have you ever been let down by a marketplace buy?