Cheese fondue with vegetables for dipping

Cheese fondue

Name: Cheese fondue
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4 as a starter
Ingredients: 200g gruyère grated; 200g emmenthal grated; 175ml white wine; 1 clove garlic peeled; 2 tsp cornflour; 1 tbsp kirsch; 1 small bunch radishes washed; 2 carrots peeled and cut into batons; 2 white chicory hearts cut into quarters; 1 red pepper seeded and cut into strips; 2 slices soughdough toasted and cut into fingers

Published: April 13, 2022 at 5:46 PM

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Serves 4 as a starter

Easy

Total time: 30 mins

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This Swiss cheese fondue uses a blend of gruyère and emmenthal which melts really well. Read our tips for making the perfect fondue, along with serving suggestions

Vegetarian

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Alternatives

Complete the dish

Follow our tips below to make this classic Swiss cheese fondue. For more cheesy goodness, check out our cheese straws, cheese grazing board and baked fondue. For creamy dips, check out our cheese sauce, blue cheese dip and white sauce.

Find the best drinks pairing advice with our guide on what wine to drink with cheese fondue.

How to make the perfect cheese fondue

Fondue is a cheese-fiend’s desert island dish. Here at olive we don’t even need a day on the ski-slopes to justify diving into a gently bubbling pot of molten cheesy loveliness. But if you want to get it right there’s a few tiny little rules you should stick to. And remember NO double dipping!

THE EQUIPMENT

A traditional fondue pot or caquelon is made of either iron or earthenware but any heavy-bottomed pot would work. A small Le Creuset casserole or similar is just right for the job.

THE CHEESE

The most classic mix of fondue cheese is a combination of Gruyere and Emmenthal as both melt beautifully. Emmenthal on its own is quite bland and Gruyere can be a bit overpowering but together they make fondue magic. Other cheeses can be used; try Beaufort, Vacherin, Camembert, Reblochon, Comte or Tome de Savoie.

THE BOOZE

Whether you use kirsch, dry white wine or another booze it’s there for a reason. The tartaric acid present keeps the cheese proteins from clumping together and splitting the fondue. You can also add a squeeze of lemon to help this along.

MORE BOOZE!

Drink fondue with white wine or hot black tea as the Swiss do. Either drink is designed to stop the cheese compacting into a solid mass in your stomach (cold beer is usually avoided because of this).

KEEP IT MOVING

Stir the fondue now and again in a figure of eight using a wooden spoon. Keeping it on the move will stop it becoming too lumpy and sticking to the bottom of the pot. If it gets too thick, stir in a little wine you’ve heated on the stove, but don’t ever let the fondue boil.

EAT EVERY BIT

As you get to the end of the fondue there will be a crusty layer of cheese on the bottom. People have been known to fight over this bit so DON”T waste it.

WHAT TO DIP

Use a crusty, day-old bread cut into bite-sized chunks for dipping (you need to get that whole thing in your mouth at once!). Alternatively lightly bake chunks of fresh bread first. You need the bread to have a bit of crunch so it can hold up against the cheese. If you want to be a bit healthier, crisp veg sticks, radicchio, cornichons and baby pickled onions can be used as dippers.

Swiss cheese fondue recipe

Ingredients

Nutrition

200g gruyère

grated
200g emmenthal

grated
175ml white wine
1 clove garlic

peeled
2 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp kirsch

TO SERVE

1 small bunch radishes

washed
2 carrots

peeled and cut into batons
2 white chicory

hearts cut into quarters
1 red pepper

seeded and cut into strips
2 slices soughdough

toasted and cut into fingers

Nutrition: per serving

kcal446
fat31.5g
carbs4.3g
fibre0.1g
protein28.1g
salt1.4g

Method

step 1

Put the grated cheese, wine and garlic in a bowl balanced over a saucepan full of boiling water to make a bain marie. Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheese has completely melted into the wine. Season. Stir in the cornflour and kirsch. Remove the bowl from the saucepan, put on the table, or transfer to a warm serving dish, and serve with veg and bread for dipping.

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