🧀Fondue: More than a cheesy ‘70s trend

There’s something about fondue. The special equipment, the blend of Alpine cheeses, the air of precision Swiss luxury makes it feel like there’s a secret formula at work. Here it is: wine and cheese—a lot of cheese. Standard recipes call for 200g per person if fondue is the main dish. That’s nearly half a pound. The Swiss have laid claim to fondue, and it’s [served in restaurants and homes]( around the country, with different blends of cheese that reflect local production. Fondue has cousins all over the globe—the en flambe drama of saganaki in Greece; [Italian pecorinos served bubbling]( and drizzled with honey; and Welsh rarebit, modified to suit the drier, more acidic cheese of the Northern Isles. Even queso, the [star of Tex-Mex cuisine]( is arguably another variant. Fondue might conjure images of chalets and fur-trimmed jumpsuits, but in Switzerland and France, pre-shredded cheese mixes—and even microwave-ready containers—can be found in the supermarket for easy preparation (and late-night snacking). Let’s take a dip. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Obsession] Fondue January 22, 2019 Melt with me --------------------------------------------------------------- There’s something about fondue. The special equipment, the blend of Alpine cheeses, the air of precision Swiss luxury makes it feel like there’s a secret formula at work. Here it is: wine and cheese—a lot of cheese. Standard recipes call for 200g per person if fondue is the main dish. That’s nearly half a pound. The Swiss have laid claim to fondue, and it’s [served in restaurants and homes]( around the country, with different blends of cheese that reflect local production. Fondue has cousins all over the globe—the en flambe drama of saganaki in Greece; [Italian pecorinos served bubbling]( and drizzled with honey; and Welsh rarebit, modified to suit the drier, more acidic cheese of the Northern Isles. Even queso, the [star of Tex-Mex cuisine]( is arguably another variant. Fondue might conjure images of chalets and fur-trimmed jumpsuits, but in Switzerland and France, pre-shredded cheese mixes—and even microwave-ready containers—can be found in the supermarket for easy preparation (and late-night snacking). Let’s take a dip. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Have you tried the Quartz app yet? --------------------------------------------------------------- 👉 Keep up with news for you, curated by Quartz editors 👉 Personalize your feed with the topics you love 👉 Engage with an informed community of leaders, subject-matter experts, and curious minds 👉 Available for iOS and Android [Try the Quartz app]( brief history [800 BC:]( The Iliad mentions a mix of goat’s cheese, wine, and flour. [1699:]( The first fondue recipe is published in Kochbuch der Anna Margaretha Gessner. [1824:]( The word fondue is first used, according to Merriam-Webster. [1905:]( Cornstarch is added to the wine-cheese mix. [1939:]( The Swiss Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York offers fondue. [1954:]( Erwin Heger, a Lausanne-born chef, demonstrates fondue on the Steve Allen Show. [1970s:]( About 35 fondue cookbooks are published throughout the decade. [1990s:]( Sales of Le Creuset pots increase 20% thanks to a fondue resurgence. [2005:]( 44-year-old American fondue chain The Melting Pot opens its 100th location. [2015:]( The Melting Pot’s 126 franchises bring in $201 million in revenue. Sponsored by Refinitiv How sustainable finance will tackle climate change. --------------------------------------------------------------- In line with the Paris Agreement, global leaders have vowed to slow global warming, setting off a shift in business models to align behind the common vision for long-term, sustainable prosperity. What’s more, this shift is proving financially profitable.[Learn more about the profitability of sustainable finance.]( Reuters/Christian Hartmann Origin story A French-Swiss melting pot --------------------------------------------------------------- Fondue is a French word that says just what it is: [the past participle of to melt](. And its origins may be modest and practical as well—peasant food, a way to stretch cheese and bread. But the modern sense of fondue also sprung up in a romantic place, [the Rhône-Alps]( home of Mont Blanc, bordering Italy and Switzerland. In short, it’s both simple and exotic, and its French-Swiss past gave it two vectors to the rest of the world. Konrad Egli, proprietor of New York’s Chalet Suisse, [was likely the first to bring it to a US restaurant]( in the 1950s. Traditional cheese fondue was [part of the Swiss Pavilion]( at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, and Julia Child’s The French Chef [included fondue]( among its imports. But fondue might never have made it off the mountain if it wasn’t for one group—[the Swiss Cheese Union](. The collection of cheese producers joined forces in 1914 when Switzerland experienced a cheese surplus. They set prices and rules for what kinds of cheese could be produced, controlling the Swiss dairy market for decades. They also needed to stoke enthusiasm for cheese consumption. Enter fondue. [In the 1930s, the union named fondue as the national dish of Switzerland]( promoting it as a wholesome winter dish. In the 1960s and 1970s, they took the ad campaign on the road and sold melted cheese with beautiful Swiss people in nice sweaters, relaxing in well-appointed ski lodges around modern fondue sets. Allegations of corruption ended the Swiss Cheese Union in the late 1990s—one official went to jail—but fondue lives on. Pop quiz! Which of the following is not a cheese commonly used in fondue? CamembertGruyereComtéVacherin Fribourgeois Correct. People make fondue out of any and every cheese imaginable, including vegan cheeses, cheddar cheese and beer, and even blue cheeses like roquefort. Camembert, a soft-ripened French cheese from Normandy with a bloomy rind, is not a traditional ingredient in fondue, though it would make a perfectly delicious addition to the pot. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. REUTERS/Samrang Pring This one weird trick! What do you drink with fondue? --------------------------------------------------------------- The Swiss have very strong opinions on this matter, which boil down to two choices—very cold dry white wine, or hot black tea. A shot of kirsch midway through the meal or at the end is also acceptable. The conventional wisdom is that other beverages, especially something cold like a soft drink, will turn the hot cheese in your stomach into a coagulated mass and make digestion more difficult. This theory is so pervasive that in 2010 researchers published [a study in the British Medical Journal]( examining the effects of white wine and hot black tea on a digestive system full of Swiss fondue. Based on a small sample of 20, the big takeaway was that alcohol slows “gastric emptying” compared to tea or water. The Swiss continue to drink cold white wine with hot cheese. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Fondue? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Quotable “The Swiss thought we were crazy.” —[Beverly Allen]( the publicist who, along with [Konrad Egli]( invented chocolate fondue as a promotion for Toblerone in New York in the early 1960s. DIY How do you make fondue? --------------------------------------------------------------- Here’s a secret: Fondue is easy to make. All it takes is dry white wine, bread for dipping, garlic if you want it, and a whole lot of cheese. The most common recipe is [moité moité]( or half-and-half, meaning half gruyeré, half whatever other Swiss cheese you prefer. Ementhaller, appenzeller, and vacherin fribourgeois are the most common, but any firm, young alpine cheese will work. (Here’s a [video explanation]( Put two cups of dry white wine in your traditional caquelon or a heavy-bottomed pot, over low heat. Add zero to three cloves of garlic cut in half, depending on your taste. Coarsely shred 1½ pounds of cheese, toss with 2 teaspoons of corn or potato starch and stir into the wine and garlic until smooth and glossy. Some people enjoy freshly ground pepper and a couple teaspoons of kirsch added at the end, but neither is compulsory. Million-dollar question What was behind the fondue fad? --------------------------------------------------------------- It’s not like the dish has gone away—in New York, you can rent [a yurt with a several-hundred-dollar minimum]( to do fondue. Chicago’s classic fondue haunt Geja’s [just turned 50](. But in America, fondue will long be associated with its ‘50s-’70s flourishing. Why then? The Swiss PR push helped, but [according to author David Sax]( “[it] is no coincidence that the fondue trend rose in concert with the budding sexual revolution in North America.” It’s warm, social, and [wraps melted cheese around a piece of bread] a bit sensual, so it picked up the vibe of the swinging-singles era, and cooled off around the same time as well. Fun fact! If you lose a chunk of bread in the fondue pot, your dining companions can require you to perform a “pledge,” like buying a round of drinks, kissing someone at the table, or maybe even [skinny dipping in an alpine lake](. Etiquette lesson Fondues and Fondon’ts --------------------------------------------------------------- This is not a free-for-all. [There are rules]( to keep things safe and tidy. Don’t eat directly off the fondue fork; not only is it sharp, you’re going to be dipping it into the pot of cheese again and again and again. The proper procedure is to dip, transfer to your plate, and then eat with a regular fork—though everyone admits that no one actually does this. One rule that the Swiss do observe is to always start with the bread, moving on to dipping meats and vegetables after they’ve had their fill. As amusing as they might be, long streamers of cheese are frowned on. Twist any gooey cheese strings around your bread before removing it from the pot. And no double dipping—of any kind—and one person at a time in the fondue pot. Hugo Souchet, the executive chef at Artisanal, a cheese-focused bistro and shop in New York, [explains the finer points of fondue pot etiquette](. What's next Raclette and roll --------------------------------------------------------------- For a slightly different, more uncharted Swiss melted cheese experience, especially if you prefer potatoes to bread, Eater suggests [getting in on the raclette trend](. It’s an even simpler concept than fondue—you melt cheese directly onto your fixings, kind of like forming a crustless pizza—but it’s a little trickier to do, and you’re probably less likely to get a hand-me-down [raclette grill]( from your parents’ wedding gifts than a fondue pot. So you might look for a restaurant doing it first, like [Le Chalet Savoyard]( in Paris, [Les Armures]( in Geneva, or [Raclette]( in New York. Department of jargon La religieuse --------------------------------------------------------------- By the time all the gooey liquid cheese has been wiped clean, a thin layer will have formed on the bottom of the caquelon. [La religieuse]( or the nun, is considered the best part of the entire fondue experience. The crispy cheese wafer is pried out and broken into pieces to share. Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann poll Do you fondue? [Click here to vote]( You can't argue with melted cheeseI prefer my dairy products to keep their cool 🗯Let's talk In yesterday’s poll about [Davos]( 60% of you said it’s probably a bit of both force for good and “fat cats in the snow.” We’re covering Davos-adjacent topics this week. You can also follow along with [Quartz’s on-the-ground coverage]( of the WEF conference. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20fondue&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Annaliese Griffin]( edited by [Whet Moser]( and produced by [April Siese](. The correct answer to the quiz is Camembert. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! 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