We’re having fondue on New Year’s Eve and—hooray!—someone else is making it. I’m interested to see what cheeses they use. A couple of years ago, I interviewed Joe Salonia, a past winner of FonDuel, a zany annual competition among cheese professionals. (Get tickets for the 2024 contest here.) Salonia shared his recipe and winning techniques, and I thought you might appreciate a refresher. Any year that ends with melted cheese is ending on a high note.
Source: Culinary Institute of America
Food historians say fondue was hardly known beyond Switzerland until its debut at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. “La Vraie Fondue Suisse” ($3.50) topped the menu at the restaurant in the Swiss Pavilion, and a star was born. A follow-up ad campaign positioned the dish as chic apres-ski fare, transforming a simple concoction into an international phenomenon that still boosts sales of Swiss cheese every winter.
I love Salonia’s idea of using dry apple or pear cider in place of white wine in the fondue pot. And his advice on the best fondue cheeses is rock solid. If you’d like to include some domestic cheese in your blend, Cowgirl Creamery’s Wagon Wheel is tasting better than ever.
My own fondue (top image, left) is more than respectable, modeled on one I had in the Jura and topped with mixed peppercorns. What to dip? Cubes of pain au levain and dark rye, plus cooked brussels sprouts and cauliflower, steamed carrots, boiled potatoes and pearl onions.
Not a fondue fan? Consider ringing out the year with raclette, and no, you don’t need a raclette machine. I’ve got an easy oven method (top image, right). Many shops stock imported Raclette cheese, from France and Switzerland, at this time of year but keep your eyes out for Jasper Hill Farm’s Whitney, a superb domestic alternative. This highly meltable raw-milk newcomer was the 2022 American Cheese Society Best of Show. The newish Mount Raclette, a raw-milk wheel made in Wisconsin—by a Frenchman, no less—gives us yet another American option for this beloved mountain dish.