Do you fondue?

Don't own a set. Have had cheese and have had chocolate. Have had it in the last year. Love the stuff.

oh yeah... till we feel sick from it!

Pardon me if you think everyone should know this, but what IS fondue?

(from dictionary)
a preparation of melted cheese (as Swiss cheese and Gruyère) usually flavored with white wine and kirsch (2) : a dish that consists of small pieces of food (as meat or fruit) cooked in or dipped into a hot liquid <beef fondue> <chocolate fondue> b : a chafing dish in which fondue is made

I own a fondue set, but I haven't used it yet Now that I'm trying to cut out dairy, it doesn't look too good for ol' mister fondue pot. Dammit. I fudging love cheese.

When I was a kid, we had this strange tradition where we would have fondue every year on Halloween. I don't remember ever having it any other time. I haven't done it since I moved out of my parent's house 23 years ago. We always had all three of the ones mentioned in the options. That seemed to be pretty standard. You use the oil for most things. Cheese for bread, and chocolate for fruit for dessert. Fondue has a bit of a 1950s air about it. My parents got their set as a wedding present in 1958. A few years ago, when I worked at the thrift store, we used to get quite a lot of fondue sets come in with the donations. I never sold one though...

It was really trendy in the 1950s. The standard set has three copper pots that sit on burners (Sterno or something similar). You have a platter of raw meat, vegetables, bread, fruit, etc. and special "fondue forks" which have a wooden handle and a long thin metal rod which ends in two little barbs, sort of like fish hooks (?) The fondue forks are just used for cooking, eating off them is very dangerous because they get REALLY HOT!

So everyone kind of cooks their own meal, bite by bite, right at the table. It's kind of a leisurely, relaxed, drawn out meal. Quite the opposite of fast food.

Okay--sounds interesting to try.

That proves that I haven't seen it all.

I do fondue. Although not as much as I'd like.

My mother had a fondue set, but we only used it once, for chocolate fondue at a childhood birthday party. My friend's mother was the homemaker type, and she had fondue a few times at birthday parties for my friend - both cheese and chocolate. And one time I went with my brother to try out a fondue restaurant int he city where we lived. It was the only time I tried a fondue with meat, and while the meat was tender and delicious, the experience lacked something. I was more interested in the edible flowers on the dish (also a first)!

No I don't - and its not really something I plan to buy.

I have a chocolate fondue set, and that's the only kind of fondue I've ever had. Bar a single taste of a piece of steak done in an oil fondue. My parents would often have an oil fondue as a special meal when we'd all be sent to bed early. They don't anymore though.

No, never, and I'd like to try it. Fundue seems fon.
lol
Okay, lame joke, I know.

Check out some images (from google) of fondue:
http://images.google.com/images?num=100&hl=en&lr=l...

My wife and I ate at a Fondue restaurant, in Banff, Alberta (on our honeymoon, actually)

Grizzly House .
For ‘lovers and hedonists’. Eclectic, rustic decor. Boiling oil and hot rock fondues--beef, buffalo, chicken, rattlesnake, lobster, shark, cheese and chocolate. Wild game and .5 kg (17.6 oz) Alberta beef steaks. 100 wines; 40 Canadian. Extensive beer and liquor selection. Dinners $20-$40, lunch $9-$18. Seating 11:30 am-mid. Reservations appreciated. Smokers welcome.

I believe we got some sort of exotic meats for two thing... and had alligator and some other odd meats... yes, they all tasted like chicken.

We got a fondue set for xmas this year... haven't used it yet.

Yes, I do a cheese fondue all the time.
Here's a recipe that is somewhat close to what I do. I change it around a bit.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0...

We had a fondue set in the 70's and did oil, cheese, and chocolate. My sister for several years in a row, rather than having cake for her birthday, had all manner of fruit and cake and candy dipped in chocolate fondue!

I do not own a fondue set, and I haven't had fondue within the past year.

whats a fondue?

that's the main reason why i could never be a vegan, love cheese far too much, and frankly the soy cheese or what have you, just doesn't quite cut it for me (hehehehe..cut the cheese)
and besides, i'm from wisconsin, i'm a special breed where we have to love cheese!

I haven't tried soy cheese yet, but I don't have too high of hopes for it. It's a real battle for me, the whole dairy issue. To me, consuming dairy is as unethical as eating meat, but it's so much easier to ignore, so I haven't put as much effort into avoiding it as I should. Ugh. I love it so much! I'm probably a native Wisconsin-oan (? ) at heart!

Never had it.

The meat is raw?!

How do you know that it's cooked through if it's covered in cheese?

I own chocolate, oil (same for chinese) and cheese fondue sets.

Oil is called Fondue Bourguignonne and with broth it's Fondue Chinoise.

I love shrimp fondue! I have great, easy dip recipes of my own creation too! My husband is fond of cheese fondues.

The one soy cheese I tried was the slices like Kraft Cheese Slices (the orange stuff for grilled cheese sandwiches). I bought it, unwrapped it and put it in the fridge without telling anyone. They never knew the difference. We have a sandwich grill that our son uses way too much, so I thought the soy would make it better. I just don't understand why it's more expensive...

Well that's good to know, because I do love me some processed cheese! It is funny that it would be more expensive, I think it probably has to do with the faddishness of it all. Also, if it's organic there are extra costs associated with that. It's too bad though.

That's cute!

If you look at Bill's link about fondues you'll see pictures of metal dishes and ceramic ones. They all have different uses. The metal one is for oil (Fondue Bourguignonne) or broth (Chinese fondue - fish, chicken or beef broth with wine and such); it's in these that you cook the raw meats then dip in tasty sauces. The big ceramic ones are for cheese fondues, they're metal with a ceramic coating to distribute the heat evenly not to scorch the cheese, this is served with bread pieces. The small ceramic ones are for chocolate fondue served with fresh fruits and cake pieces. The ceramic dish conducts the least heat and uses just a candle to keep the chocolate melted, the others use fondue fuel which is really methyl hydrate tinted blue.

I hope you'll try it sometime - I'm sure you'll like it! We love it!! It's a great meal to have during a black-out...

I just can't get over the image of a big bowl of bloody raw hunks of beef at the dinner table! I had no idea! It doesn't sound very appetizing to me.

If the meat were pre-cooked, it would probably be something I'd like... I have an addiction to cheese

The chunks are small and served with the oil fondue. For the broth fondue, the meats are sliced in paper thin strips.

If you like cheese; a great meal is the cheese fondue with fresh French bread, a salad of young greens, fresh grapes, Genoa salami and a good red wine.
With a little candle light; you have a romantic dinner with no hassle!!

It's a good thing!

The bread and cheese would be good.. no meat for me

Well... You have to have the wine, salad and grapes with it and don't forget the candles!

frankly i wouldn't bother w/ the soy cheese for it really is disappointing, unless of course they have improved since the last time i tried it, but that really seems doubtful...i agree that dairy is right up there w/ meat, the only thing i have a 'problem' w/ is indeed the cheese..ah well

I have had cheese and chocolate fondues.

No one can be perfect, I just have to keep telling myself that as I gobble down piles and piles of melty goodness

right on, perfection is not part of my personal vocabulary

They still make those things??

Cheese, oil and chocolate are all excellent

The cheese is for bread. The meat goes in the oil. The pieces of meat are small and cook quickly. Little cubes of steak for example.

The chocolate and cheese aren't really cooking anything. It is more like coating stuff in melted chocolate or cheese.

It's just the idea of sitting down at the table for a meal and having a raw plate of meat there.. Maybe it's just me, but seeing raw meat makes me ILL.

I think it is mostly just you. Apart from vegetarians (who wouldn't be eating it anyway) and the extremely squeamish, I don't believe that most people are offended by the sight of raw meat. It isn't much different from cutting into a rare steak!

Korean restaurants often have this similar thing where you stir-fry your own food right at the table. They have sort of a wok built into the table (sunk into a hole) and you get a plate of raw meat and stuff to cook yourself.

BTW, I picked up "Evening News" at the library yesterday. I haven't started it yet though. I recently got on to a Theodore Sturgeon kick. I read two of his books recently and picked up three more yesterday. I've started in on one of them. They're all collections of short stories though, so I might start the Marly Swick book anytime...maybe even tonight!

I'm not squeamish around most gore.. but even rare steak I have a problem with. When I eat meat, I'm in denial about what it used to be... it's the only way I can enjoy it.. If I'm eating shrimp and start thinking too much about what it is that I'm really eating, I have to stop. When I buy raw chicken and.. (I'm about to barf as I type this) it has that rubbery white TUBE in it.. it makes me really ill. I get through most situations in life by living in denial .

I can't wait to hear what you think about Evening News.. It was one of my all time favorites. The first time my mom recommended it, I must not have been in the mood for it.. but luckily I tried it again another time and it was excellent.

Did you take a look at the recipe I posted above for a cheese fondue?

I did.. it sounds yummy

I *so* know what you mean about food denial! I could never eat a steak unless it was well-done, otherwise it was too reminiscent of gnawing live flesh, at least as I imagined it. I've cooked chicken exactly once, and I was so grossed out by it that I couldn't even eat it once it was done! Shrimp, forget about it.
It's actually been good for my nerves now that I've gone vegetarian!
Man, now that I think about it, I really was neurotic about food. I would dread the last bite of a hamburger so much that most times I couldn't even eat it...because the last bite *must* be where the yucky gristle is or whatever...ewwwww.
I hope my reply didn't gross you out!

It totally did gross me out.. I think I'm on my way to being vegetarian, I'm just not there yet.. What you described is how I feel most of the time.

I'm sorry for that, then. I was so excited that there was finally someone who felt the same way, that I went a little overboard!
There are multiple reasons that I decided to become vegetarian, but the greatest benefit of all is being able to *relax* about what I'm eating, ahhh.

Since I'm diabetic, my doctor is really urging me to make some diet changes... my SO and I have both discussed it.. but it's really a major life change.. it might have to happen slowly

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to deal with the food issues of diabetes.
Things like diet change definitely have to be a process, at a pace the person is comfortable with. Otherwise, it just won't stick. Good luck though, and if you ever want some tried and true veggie recipes, I have some pretty good sources!

It's just too bad being a vegetarian does nothing to help a carb-a-holic like myself. If it were just a matter of cutting the candy, cake, and ice cream from my diet, I could hande it.. but carbs turn to sugar also... and you can't take away my bread and potatoes!!

I definitely couldn't live without cheese, which I've read could be causing my headaches.. I'll let you know if I need the recipes.. but I hope they have lots of cheese

I have a friend who is like that. All her meat has to be cooked well done, and she gets queasy handling raw meat when she is cooking. She prefers to have someone else do it when possible.

In my neighbourhood they sell chickens with the head and feet still on. The first time I had to cut the chicken's head off I was a little squeamish about it. I couldn't look! I had to put the knife against its neck and then look away and CRUNCH! Since that first time, it doesn't bother me. I don't mind killing and gutting fish either, never have...

I would never do that with a chicken! I've never watched anyone clean a fish.. I grew up around that kind of thing but have avoided it.

My mom grew up on a farm and has memories about a bloody stump that was used to kill chickens.. and she has a strong aversion to chicken because of it.

Ooh, would be tough to go veggie if you've got to watch your carbs. I'm pretty skeptical about Atkins and the anti-carbs craze that's going around lately, but of course it's completely different if it's medically related. That would be a hard diet for me to follow for even a very short amount of time.
Cheese, ugh, don't get me started on cheese! It will be my downfall, I'm sure of it. Trying to work on it, but it's so tempting!

We used our new fondue pot last night for the first time. Cheese... it was good.

What did you dip into it?

bread... I hadn't considered anything else.

Oh, I do not fondue obviously.

I don't fondue I have to be careful what I eat . No cheese, no chocolate covered everything-especially cherries-dripping in rich scrumptious chocolate,

I am "fond" of fondue and I "due" it all the time

i own a fondue set, but i've never had fondue... hmmm

No fondue set of my own, but I've had strawberries dipped in chocolate melted in a fondue pot at a friend's house.