Oct 08 2025
When it comes to dining trends, anything good will stay in fashion forever or it will come back around on a regular cycle. And if we are talking about the fondue, some people might say it never went out of fashion while others might today be enjoying its retro charm as the ultimate sharing food. Either way, the fondue is front and centre of French cuisine and is one of the most popular ways to enjoy the very best French cheeses.
Fondue is a communal dish using a large ceramic pot that is heated from underneath. It contains a hot liquid that can be chocolate, but in our case will definitely be cheese. A group of friends and family can then use long forks on which pieces of bread, pickles, meats or vegetables can be dipped into the gooey mixture and enjoyed with a lavish, indulgent mouthful. The term ‘fondue’ derives from the French verb ‘fondre’, which means ‘to melt’, although the fondue tradition originated from Switzerland. Nevertheless, there is nothing better than gathering round a bubbling pot of aromatic cheese on a cold winter’s evening to warm the cockles, and using delicious French cheeses is the best way to enjoy that.
You require a special communal pot, known as a ‘caquelon’, for a proper fondue and these are quite widely available. You will also need a small portable stove or burner and a safe space on which you can use this. You will need a large table that everyone can sit around but also needs to be able to accommodate the fondue pot and the means of heating it.
Many people enjoy fondue by blending cheeses together, and anyone with a good knowledge of French cheeses will be able to manage this and can create some amazing, complex flavours, but you can also simply use one single cheese on its own. One important thing to note however, the very best part of a fondue often comes at the end. Fondue enthusiasts all agree that the lump of hardened cheese that develops at the bottom of the pot over the course of the meal is often the most flavoursome. This becomes congealed and crusty as the fondue pot empties and cools, and the most delicious part is scraping this off the pot and devouring it. You can share this around the table as a reverential treat to complete the fondue, or as the host, you can keep this nugget of information to yourself, your choice!
Achieving good melting properties in a cheese requires a delicate balance of a number of factors. You need a high moisture and high fat content, along with a specific protein structure and a mid-range pH for a medium acid content. If that sounds complicated, luckily for you, French cheesemakers sorted this out many centuries ago.
There are a number of French cheeses with great melting properties and are delicious when used in a fondue. Brie melts even at room temperature and needs very little encouragement to go soft and gooey, while Camembert is the classic melting cheese. Raclette is the ultimate cheese for fondue as its texture is deliciously smooth, and its pungent aroma is ideal for the comfort and warmth of a winter fondue.
Other great French cheeses for a fondue include Abondance, Beaufort, Comte, Emmental, Gruyere and Tomme de Savoie. You have classic Alpine cheeses amongst this collection, as well as distinctive holey cheeses and warming rustic cheeses, but once they are melted in the pot they can all be enjoyed in the same way, with chunks of bread, boiled potatoes, pickled gherkins or some charcuterie. Fondue was invented as a way to use up leftover cheese and bread that was going stale, and as a way to reduce waste over winter. It has become a staple part of French cuisine and where we are concerned at Sodiaal, put the very best French cheeses in a fondue pot and there will never be any waste.
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