February 5th is National Chocolate Fondue Day here in America - but let's make National Chocolate Fondue Day EVERYWHERE is what we say! Who doesn't like chocolate... Who couldn't like fondue??? We'd say that fondue - be it cheese or chocolate - was and is the ultimate in 'sharing' food. Imagine all your mates sat around a fondue pot, dipping fruit, cake, marshmallows, or bread, cheese, cooked meat, or whatever else you feel like takes your fancy into warm melted cheese or chocolate. Pure bliss - just no double dipping, people!
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS FONDUE THING?
Chocolate fondue is a dessert that's as deliciously retro as Black Forest gateau or Baked Alaska. Traditionally a fondue is a liquid that's kept hot in a fondue pot with the aid of a candle or a spirit lamp, and it's placed on the middle of the table so that the diners can sit around the table and dip delicious nibbles into the communal pot using long-stemmed forks - very handy for keeping accidents at bay! It's for those who wish to share the fondue love and not one for those who aren't keen on any kind of communal dining experience.
Fortunately we love it!
SO IT'S NOT THE SAME AS FONDANT THEN?
We can see why the two might get mixed up but they're very different things. Fondant is either icing or one of those warm, gooey, melt-in-the-middle chocolate desserts.
'Fondant' and 'fondue' are both similar-sounding French words with the latter being the past particle of the verb fondre, which means to melt.
OH SO FONDUE COMES FROM FRANCE?
Actually it doesn't! It is however, believed to have hailed from a French-speaking region in Western Switzerland, with the very first published recipe dating back to 1699.
Wow! They really knew how to party back then!
LOOKS LIKE THEY DID! SO HAS FONDUE ALWAYS BEEN MADE WITH CHOCOLATE?
Funnily enough, no, cheese fondues actually came first! Some of the earliest recipes for a delicious cheese fondue were a molten blend of cheese, wine, and in later versions, garlic. Doesn't that just sound heavenly!
Despite the earliest recipe for fondue being dated back to the seventeenth century, the recipe for cheese fondue as we know it today was created in 1875 and was already being hailed as the Swiss national dish, but it wasn't until the 1930s that cheese fondue really began to take off around the world.
Oh and may we also mention the fondue bourguignonne, where cubes of meat are dipped into hot broth or oil, and then served with various sauces. It was almost as popular as it's cheese counterpart during the 1970s when fondue parties were all the rage!
THAT ALL SOUNDS VERY, VERY DELICIOUS BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHOCOLATE?
All right, hold your horses! Well while chocolate fondue was created by innovative Swiss chef, the late Konrad ' Konni' Egli, head-chef-turned-owner of the now long-gone restaurant Chalet Suisse, it's birthplace is actually New York City in the early 1960s rather than Switzerland. So the chocolate fondue is as American as chicken and waffles! Egli decided that a dessert version of fondue was a necessary addition to the menu at Chalet Suisse - and we love him for that! And far from chocolate fondue being a short-lived food fad (eggs in aspic, anyone?) it's gone from strength to strength. and it even evolved into the chocolate fountain - the mother of all fondues of which no wedding is complete without!
Egli's original chocolate fondue was made with chocolate, cream and kirsch, so it had all the flavours of a Black Forest gateau. How good is that!
THAT SOUNDS AMAZINGLY GOOD! BUT WHAT'S THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHOCOLATE FONDUE AND TOBLERONE?
Oh we almost forgot about that! Well when Chalet Suisse was due to reopen in a new location, Egli, being the creative genius that he was, was trying to come up with some out-of-this world culinary masterpieces to add to the menu that he thought would generate a buzz for the restaurant's new launch.
Anyway to cut a long story short, Egli was introduced to Beverly Allen, a PR person who was working with Swiss-based chocolate company and trying to create publicity for an unusual chocolate product that was arriving in America. It was a chocolate and nougat bar called Toblerone where each thick, segment that could be snapped off was triangular-shaped, clearly representing the Swiss Alps. Allen and the makers of Toblerone were looking for a unique way to launch the chocolate product in America and wanted to create a real buzz. Before long, Egli came up with the idea for a dessert fondue - although those in the know, especially back in Switzerland, were not entirely convinced.
SO IT WAS INITIALLY A FLOP?
Not at all! Like green eggs and ham, you should never be so quick to judge something before you've tried it! The recipe was very simple: Toblerone; cream, and kirsch. And it went down an absolute storm. Egli soon had critics eating their words as well as his fondue! And the popularity of this dessert soon took over the world - even in Switzerland!
And while we're on the subject of culinary successes, Elgi is also believed to be the mastermind behind the fondue bourguignonne which may have been created in 1956.
WHAT DIPPERS DID EGLI SERVE WITH THE CHOCOLATE FONDUE?
'Dippers,' 'dunkers,' 'dunkables' are basically the little morsels of food that you stick on the end of your fork and dip into the pot of molten chocolate goodness. For his chocolate fondue at Chalet Suisse, Egli included:
Tiny puff pastries
Fresh Mandarin orange segments
Little meringues
Cake Cubes including pound and angel cake
Fresh strawberries
Banana slices
Many of the above are pretty much staples when it comes to chocolate fondue but of course you can serve whatever takes your fancy. Popular choices include marshmallows; mini doughnuts; bite-sized churros; little pretzels; mini pancakes; nougat, and fruit such as fresh pineapple, mango, raspberries and kiwi fruit.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CHOCOLATE FONDUE RECIPE CARD!
If you enjoyed our Comfort Food feature about Chocolate fondue, you can have a go at making your own in time for National Fondue Day! Download Nostalgia Pie's recipe card which contains a vintage-inspired formula for a fondue that you can modify to suit your tastes by using any flavour chocolate or liquor that you like. You could even infuse the cream with cinnamon or orange peel for extra flavour, or substitute the vanilla extract for rosewater. You could even add the nuts included in this recipe to the actual fondue mix (providing no one has an allergy of course) or add ground freeze-dried raspberry pieces.
You could also have a go at recreating the flavours used by Egli in his fondue. But if you are going to use chocolate that contains any 'bits' in it, make sure you don't use it in a chocolate fountain unless the manual specifies that it's all right to do so.
The recipe cards are only available to Nostalgia Pie members. But if you're not a member, why not sign up to join our community? That's free too!
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Blog Graphics: Angel Noire
