Fondue: A Simple Yet Romantic Valentine's Dinner
Green and Easy Tips for a Romantic Red Letter Day
Feb 6, 2009
Fondue is the original frugal supper. A combination of leftover cheeses dunked in stale bread, it was a resourceful use of leftovers for the hard-wintering Swiss. Recipes have changed over the years, and it eventually became associated with romantic dinners: the glow of the flame under the pot, the kissing games that followed if you dropped your fork or bread in the pot.
Fondue Etiquette
Never let your mouth touch the fondue fork; for cheese fondues, you can munch on the cheese-soaked bread, but be sure that your teeth and tongue have not hit the fork. For meat-based dishes, use your dinner fork to remove the slice of meat from your fondue fork.
Once your morsel has been bitten into, “double-dipping” (dunking your fork back in again after sampling) is frowned upon.
Traditions and Games with Fondue
There are longstanding traditions among the Swiss, of what to do when your chunk of bread is lost in the cheese. Male guests who drop their fork are expected to buy a bottle of wine. If a woman’s piece of bread falls into the cheese, she kisses the man on her left.
Fondue Recipes and Websites
For those who happen to have some leftover cheese, or feel like visiting a local cheese shop for some melt-worthy treats, fondue is an ideal, low-budget and low-maintenance meal.
A good frugal trick is to ask your cheese shop if they have any “cheese ends” – cheeses that should be sold today or not at all; they can be bought at a greatly reduced cost. A typical meal of fondue shouldn’t cost more than $10 for two people. (Wine not included.)
Once you have all that lovely cheese on hand, fondue recipes can be found easily online. Websites like fonduerecipes.org is among one of many web sites who contribute to the online community of fondue-lovers.
Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Fondue Burners
The burner under the pot that keeps the cheese warm and gooey is usually a petroleum-based pot of Sterno: Try a sustainable – and more traditional – alternative, that still works as well: beeswax survival candles.
Grassroots Environmental Store features a product called Pheylonian Pure Beeswax Survival Candles, which can be used for pots and pans, should you not have a “traditional” fondue pot.
Another product that might fit better for those with standard chafing dishes or fondue pot might want to look into EcoFuel XB™ as it touts itself as being a low emission, “100% biodegradable” fuel.
Getting into fondue can mean reducing your food bill, as well as reducing your household emissions: If you turn out the lights and eat by candlelight, you can experience a truly green and romantic meal!
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