Fondue night: a Valentine’s Day tradition

By Julia Stacey Reilly

My husband and I used to spend Valentine’s Day making hard-to-get reservations and fighting crowds, only to be frustrated by special, fixed-price menus that weren’t nearly as good as the restaurant’s daily fare. On one occasion, the meal was quite unremarkable, but the view of the cemetery across the street was an unforgettable mishap that we still laugh about today. After many holiday disappointments, we created our own fondue night tradition to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

The idea came from my husband’s family, who made fondue night something he remembers fondly from his childhood.

Their tradition began in the 1970s after his mother received a free fondue set, including a pot and skewers, as part of a bank advertising promotion. It may come as a surprise to younger readers that savings banks used to solicit new account holders by giving away a free gift such as a toaster, blender, or coffee pot.

Gathering around a pot of boiling oil and cooking bite-sized pieces of steak, chicken and cocktail franks on long-handled metal skewers was fun and exciting, not to mention a little dangerous for a family with five children.

The fondue that we know and love today originated as 17th century peasant food in the French-speaking area of Switzerland.

Picture a campfire or stone hearth with a communal pot where leftover bits of cheese, bread and a few meager vegetables sustained rustic, mountain-dwelling farmers and shepherds.

The earliest known reference to fondue was a recipe “to cook cheese with wine,” published in Zurich, Switzerland in 1699. It simply called for bits of bread to be dipped in cheese melted with wine. By the 19th century, fondue had become popular with the more sophisticated townsfolk, and the cheese ingredient had been elevated to more expensive Gruyere cheese.

The first known recipe for this modern version of the dish was published in 1875. By this point fondue was considered a national Swiss dish.

The extension of the name “fondue” to other dishes served in a shared hot pot is attributed to Swiss restaurateur, Konrad Egli, who introduced fondue bourguignonne at his New York restaurant Chalet Suisse in the 1950s. While the idea of the communal pot and cooking skewers remained the same, fondue bourguignonne uses bite-sized pieces of meat cooked in beef broth. In the 1960s, Egli invented chocolate fondue, incorporating fruits dipped in melted chocolate as part of a promotion for Toblerone chocolate.

From the 1960s onward, fondue restaurants became popular across the country, including the franchise, The Melting Pot. We learned a few good tips from The Melting Pot that we use to enhance our fondue experience at home.

At the restaurant, diners have a choice between cooking in vegetable oil or beef broth. My in-laws typically used oil, but I prefer broth as a healthier option.

Secondly, vegetables such as mushrooms and small red potatoes, cook perfectly in the fondue pot. Don’t use the skewers; just toss a few spoonfuls at a time into the pot. When they are done, use a slotted spoon to “search and rescue” the vegetables.

Inspired by the many dipping sauces served at The Melting Pot, we created some of our own such as Green Goddess, Gorgonzola Port, Bang Bang and Asian Soy, which we can mix and match to make each bite unique. To keep the sauces from running together, we invested in special fondue plates that enhance the restaurant-level experience at home.

Fondue pot ingredients:

1 quart of beef stock (plus one 14.5-ounce can in reserve)

1 cup of dry sherry

Sprinkle of garlic powder

White mushrooms, cut in half

Small potatoes (red, purple, Dutch yellow peewee potatoes, cut in half)

Beef, cut into cubes, seasoned with Kosher salt

Chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

Shrimp, raw

Cocktail franks

Directions

Always keep raw meats/seafood separated from cooked food. Raw items should not be on the plate you are eating from. Heat broth to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Place mushrooms and potatoes into the pot a few spoonfuls at a time. Cook 4 to 5 minutes and retrieve them with a slotted spoon.

Skewer beef, chicken, shrimp and cocktail franks individually with the fondue fork and submerge in broth. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes. If the broth evaporates during cooking, add the reserve can.

For each of the sauces, mix the following ingredients.

Gorgonzola Port

¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
1 ounce Gorgonzola crumbled cheese
1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ ounce Port wine

Green Goddess

8 ounces cream cheese, whipped or softened

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon parsley

Sprinkle of onion powder

Asian Soy

¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup duck sauce
½ teaspoon garlic, minced
½ teaspoon ginger

Bang Bang

½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup Franks’ Red Hot Sweet Chili sauce

A few drops of sriracha sauce

After the fondue preparations are complete, we like to warm our feet by the fireplace with a Valentine’s Day themed cocktail. Express your feelings of tenderness and romance with the color pink in a classic, sophisticated cosmopolitan.

Are you celebrating a new relationship or a long and happy one? You may prefer a bubbly cocktail such as the French 75 to say, “I love you.” Valentine’s Day is also the perfect time for a decadent desert cocktail like the Mudslide. Drink your heart’s desire.

Cosmopolitan

Ingredients