Bond over bread and cheese

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: Chef Mark Wilson, The Intercontinental, The Grand, Sahar, Mumbai

Want to have a good time with friends over a meal or bond with like-minded folks over a leisure meal and yet not have the dinner table overflowing with food, then a fondue meal would be the best bet. All that you need is a small burner called the rechaud, an earthenware pot or the caquelon and cheese and bread. Long forks are used by each guest to spear a cube of bread which is then dipped into the cheese and eaten. Not to forget tea lights to heat the fondue. Of course, bonhomie at the dinner table is an absolute must!

The word fondue is derived from the French fondre meaning to melt. Used in the past tense, the word becomes fondu, melted. Fondue originated in Switzerland. It can be traced back to the 18th century when both cheese and wine were important industries in Switzerland. The cold clime made it an ideal meal where friends and family got together and broke bread over a long, cold, dreary evening. Literally! Bread pieces are used to dip into the pots of melted cheese sauce with flour and butter for dipping bread. Vegetables such as broccoli, capsicum, carrot sticks can be used. Meat and prawn can be dipped into the molten cheese sauce. The most commonly used cheese for fondue is Gruyere and Emmenthaler. They are usually combined for either alone produces either a mixture that is too sharp or too bland. The cheese is never heated so much that it scalds the tongue. I prefer goats cheese, Rouqfort and cheddar. Changing the combinations of cheeses and with additions such as caraway, cumin and the results can be lipsmacking. Any crusty French or Italian bread is the best to dip into a fondue. In fact any type of bread will do — white, brown, multi grained, crusty. A baguette is a good idea as well. You probably have seen each piece of bread on the table for fondue meal includes a bit of the crust. Wonder why? It is the crust that keeps the bread on the fork after it is dipped into the cheese. Or you would spend much of your time trying to retrieve your sunk bread in the molten cheese! I am often asked about a low-fat fondue. Is there one? Of course not. It is like asking to make a low-fat gulab jamun! Chocolate fondue can be one of the ways to end a fondue meal. Dip strawberries, bite-sized banana pieces and marshmallows in it.

Fondue etiquette: Since it is a communal pot, do not touch your lips or tongue to a fork that goes back into the pot. Traditionally, whoever loses a piece of bread off of their fork into the pot must either buy the next round at a restaurant or kiss everyone at the table, your choice.