How to Make a Fondue Dinner

Fondue is Romantic and Casual

Fondue is an informal style of dining that is excellent for a romantic, candlelit dinner or small party with a group of friends. A do-it-yourself fondue dinner is intimate and romantic.

Fondue is a style of dining with practical and interesting roots. Cheese fondue, with pieces of bread dipped in a cheese sauce, was a way of using up old, dried up cheese and stale bread. The cheese sauce would be melted in a small pot and the pieces of bread would be dipped into the cheese sauce. The melted cheese would revitalize the stale bread, softening in and making a tasty treat in the meantime. Meat fondue got it's origins by vineyard workers in Europe.
Vineyard workers would spend long days in the field. picking grapes. The owners, or managers, would keep large pots of heated oil in the field. Workers brought their own small pouches of food and when it was time to eat, they would cook their food in the communal pot of heated oil and eat it.

There are three main categories of fondue, including cheese, oil, and chocolate.

If you want to create a three course dinner, you should have three pots, one for each course. The fondue pot for the oil is usually stainless steel. If you don't already have a pot, you can purchase one in most stores that carry kitchenware. You should be aware that each type of fondue has best results with it's own style of pot, because the ingredients cook differently. Fondue kits come with the pot, a stand, a burner and small fondue forks.

Set the pots up in the center of a sturdy table. East guest should get a small plate, preferably a different plate for each course. The plates will only be used to put dipping sauces on and to set the food on temporarily before eating, so small dessert plate will be just fine. Each guest should also get silverware, and a napkin or two. Some people will eat the fondue directly off of the fondue fork, but that means the used fork will get dipped into the communal pot, which can be unappealing at best. The other disadvantage to eating off of the fondue fork is that the fork will get hot in the pot and eating off of the cooking fork could risk burns.