Talk:Fondue

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Je ne comprends pas comment c'est possible!!!

Contents

[edit] Picture

This article could do with a picture or two to realy help convey some of the ideas.


I think we should consider giving hot pot its own page. This page is about fondue, that is, the European family of dishes. While they are clearly related, the traditions are different, and I think the Asian hot pot deserves its own page. -- tooki 02:48, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I agree. I was confused at first about what hot pot was because I was skipping around the article (etiquette looked interesting) and I was still curious after I read its section. It's probably very different from fondue, and the section on this page didn't describe it in enough detail to satisfy my wondering. It sounds yummy. --Deicidus 01:40, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)
It would seem that fondue uses some sort of rich, viscous sauce in a warmed pot like cheese or chocolate. Hot pot uses boiling broth/water. I recently talked to a couple of friends over a hot pot dinner and we agreed that hot pot and fondue are not really the same thing at all. I would like to propose removing stuff about the Asian hot pot on the fondue page since there is already an extensive hot pot page with pictures. We could make a one sentence statement about similarities between hot pot and fondue and provide a link directly to the hot pot page. I think I'll make that revision soon if no one objects. Allentchang 22:12, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I am going to return a section called "Fondue Chinoise", since it is still a variety of fondue -- you can go to any grocery store in Switzerland and buy pre-sliced "fondue chinoise" beef and ready-made sauces. The section will mention the similarity to hot pot, but only describe the European tradition, leaving the Asian tradition to the Hot pot page. -- tooki 19:14, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

I was considering adding a picture of the Chocolate Fondue Fountain from Chocolate Fountain UK as they had given me permission to use their images copyright free. Any objections?

[edit] Cheese Fondue Day

April 11 is Cheese Fondue Day. Happy Cheese Fondue Day! --161.210.251.100 20:24, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] caquelon?

what's a caquelon? -15:38, 28 December 2005 66.41.90.102

an earthenware pot --Bob 00:15, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Fondue in Poplar Culture??

This whole paragraph although interesting seems a bit irrelavent to the article I suggest that it be removed. Enneagon 21:00, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A little suggestion

If you don't have swiss cheese at hand, try with old Cheddar cheese. It will definitely not be a "swiss" fondue, but it's very good.(Here a sample recipe: heat 2 cups of dry white wine with 2 cloves of garlic, chopped; add 1 pound of old Canadian Cheddar, shredded; add a pinch of nutmeg and some pepper, freshly ground; you finish with an ounce of Kirsch or Vermouth.) Boris Crépeau 08:40, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reason to use a dinner fork?

Some people consider it rude to allow one's lips or tongue to touch the fondue fork, and with meat fondues one should use a dinner fork to remove the meat from the dipping utensil.

- Well, I dono where to put it, but the more important reason than manners is that you'd burn your mouth when eating meat fondue with the fondue fork, since the soup (or oil) is a lot hotter than the cheese. 85.0.39.177 21:30, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Some Possible Citation Sources

While searching for possible citation sources for this article (specifically, the theory of the evolution of the fondue as stated in paragraph 3 under the heading 'Fondue' and paragraph 1 under the heading 'Cheese Fondue') I found the following possible links of interest:

http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFacts/Food_Facts.cfm?Phrase_vch=Fondue&fid=6539

http://www.wendylayne.com/gift-baskets/gift-baskets.html

http://www.foodmall.org/entry/top-7-tips-to-serve-fondue/

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2002-02-07/dining/that-70s-meal/

Perhaps somebody that knows more about this sort of research than me could decide whether or not these secondary sources* are applicable as citation material for this article.

  • I'm calling it secondary because none of them have any citations of their own. I was taught long ago that just because a theory (even when stated in the form of fact) can found be in multiple locations that doesn't actually make it a fact (especially in the modern online context).

-Chef JD

[edit] First War of Kappel

The German language wiki http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappeler_Milchsuppe has a nice story about the possible origin of fondue. In 1529, the Zürich army marched against the Inner Schweiz army. As the leaders were talking about where and when to have the battle (First War of Kappel), the two troops set up a common soup pot. The people from Zug supplied the milk and the Zürich people supplied the bread. The troops had a good milk soup together and the war was avoided. There is a memorial milk soup stone at Ebertswil between Zürich and Zug. jmcw 16:33, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pitchfork Fondue

Fondue being in vogue during the 1960s encouraged Darrly and Verna of Pindale, Wyoming to thread 8 oz. sirloin steaks on to a pitchfork and deep fry in a cast iron kettle.[citation needed] By the mid 1980's pitchfork fondue was served as a specialty in Wyoming, Montana, and Saskatchewan. Baseball steak is ideal as it has a large surface area and it is one of the few ways to cook baseball steak evenly.

Is this notable? Is this about fondue? Are there any sources? Google just shows commercial advertising. jmcw 11:25, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Intro rewritten

Got some raclette on sale at the Coop today and got stirred up to clean up this article, rm'd the unsupported (and dodgy) history, replaced it with a more supportable narrative. Gwen Gale 19:44, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Nice work on the history. And "wontedly" is a delight. jmcw 09:08, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Etiquette

Hi, all. Are we sure the commercial with the jumping into the snow in one's underwear wasn't just trying to be funny? It sounds a bit out there. I can just imagine a family gathering with a little old lady being dragged to the balcony while being stripped and being told, "Those are the rules, Granny." —Nricardo 13:38, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Naw, I've seen it happen it real life. Gwen Gale 14:14, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
Of course it was to be funny. The Swiss enjoy an excellent sense of humor in their advertising. And I suspect the little old lady could specify the traditional custom of kissing the men anyway. jmcw 14:22, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
Haha! You know, I don't care if it's in the article or not but I did want to say it happens in CH (like at winter resorts with college aged kids or whatever) and can be funny, kinda like playing strip poker. Obviously though, someone's gran wouldn't be in on "strip fondue."Gwen Gale 14:28, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

I consulted the source which states the etymology, and as a nearly-native French speaker, I think that the name likely comes from the past-tense of "fondre", "fondu", meaning melted. As an extension, I could ask a Swiss friend of mine if the Swiss-French dialect adds an "-e" to the word in normal writing. A source, of course, would be needed, but I think this provides a better derivation than the infinitive and at least deserves mention in the article. Benwedge (talk) 14:33, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

The e comes from gender. I'm Swiss and a native french speaker and the word fondue naturally arises from the phrase la raclette fondue (the grated cheese, melted, more or less) which is why there's an e tacked on the end. I've put this in the text. I guess I'll run across a source one of these days but for a French speaker who sees la raclette in the cheese section of the supermarket every day it's straight grammar. Gwen Gale (talk) 14:57, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. I forgot the "la raclette" part. Silly oversight. Benwedge (talk) 15:24, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] ethymology

I think it may be more appropriate to write that the word fondu come from the adjective form of fondre, and not the past form of fondre. Anyone agree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Petit chocobo (talk • contribs) 11:12, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Fondu is the past tense of fondre, not the adjective. However, fondu can be used as an adjective. Gwen Gale (talk) 16:41, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Alcohol burner

I was surprised to see no WP article on wicked alcohol burners but I guess folks don't use them much anymore. Everyone I know uses tealights for fondue, one can buy big bags of them on sale after each holiday. Gwen Gale (talk) 22:58, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] possible WP:OR

The following text was added to the etiquette section (where it would never belong). It was wholly unsourced and could be original research. Truth be told, what it describes doesn't even sound like fondue to me but rather, like a hunk of melted cheese on a plate. Gwen Gale (talk) 01:04, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

In popular American culture with the demise of home-cooked meals prepared from scratch, an alternative form of fondue is often prepared using brick cheese and melting it on a microwave safe plate to be devoured with a spoon. Many will garnish this delicacy with artificial sweetners. This form of fondue is particularly popular in western Pennsylvania and is commonly served at events and ceremonies as well as prepared for after school snacks.

I have seen this done with Velveeta - a horrible invention and a probable by-product of the petroleum industry - it can't even be called cheese as it doesn't contain more than 51% cheese. But, as you pointed out, can't be called fondue, at least by traditional methods. --Bob (talk) 16:08, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

US Food and Drug Administration:

  • "cheese" is cheese
  • "cheese food" contains at least 51% cheese
  • "cheese product" (Velveeta) contains less than 51% cheese

so fondue is "cheese food"<g>. jmcw (talk) 09:14, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

In the States, yes. In Switzerland, fondue is not cheese, nor is it cheese food, it's fondue :) Gwen Gale (talk) 13:54, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of the Nun

It might be nice (if anyone knows) to provide the origin of the term religieuse. Jokes abound, but does anyone know where the term actually came from? Google turned up little of use. ZLMarshall (talk) 00:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I've always taken it as a kind of metaphor, le pain sans levain de la religieuse which is to say, the nun's unleavened bread, like a cracker. Gwen Gale (talk) 00:53, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] I wish

Would that we could source this :) Gwen Gale (talk) 16:09, 4 June 2008 (UTC)