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.
Read moreFondue Champion Tells All
I did not think I had much to learn about fondue until I spoke to Joe Salonia, a FonDuel champion. This friendly annual competition among people in the cheese business—mostly retailers and distributors—is the Olympics of melted cheese, with the public invited to taste and judge the entries. FonDuel took a pandemic pause last year, but Salonia has earned first and second place finishes in the past. (The latter result, he assures me, was “very close.”) With Valentine’s Day looming, it seemed like a good time to get some tips from a master on a dish that’s meant to be shared.
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