ChristianWith winter in Switzerland quickly coming to an end, most people think that cheese fondue season is over as well. However, talk to any cheese maker or cheese dealer and they will assure you that fondue, like raclette, is not just for winter.
The days are getting longer and warmer though, so many are not too keen on spending the evening around a table, eating fondue with family and friends indoors...
A new trend in Switzerland is helping to solve that conundrum: Forest fondue. The name says it all - instead of eating your fondue at the table, you have it in the woods!
It is not just a picnic or dinner around a large table in the woods, but rather it looks like a meeting of witches and warlocks. A caldron is suspended over a fire in which the fondue is melted and kept warm. Of course, the secret is keeping the temperature just right as not to burn the cheese. Of course, the stirring also helps with this.
If you thought fondue forks were long, you will be amazed by how long forest fondue forks are! Obviously, forest fondue forks need to have a certain length in order to reach the pot...
Now, eating while standing means that there is only so much you can hold. This is why people partaking in forest fondue usually wear a special apron that can hold their glass of fondant (the traditional fondue wine)!
After getting one's fill of cheese, the next thing is chocolate. But instead of a chocolate fondue, the campfire favourite of bananas and chocolate is made: Take a banana and slice it lengthwise down the center. Place your favourite chocolate between the two halves and roast it over the fire.
Enjoy! (Or as we'd say in German-speaking Switzerland: En guete!)
Order your own specialty forest fondue forks, or participate in a forest fondue experience!
Dimitri Burkhard
Thank you for an interesting article about the
Forest Fondue. Here in the Chicago are we have
enough forests to copy this idea. I am just wondering if you would try to repeat such outdoor fondue on the beaches of Florida or the sands of Nevada… would you then call it the “Beach Fondue”, respectively the “Dessert
Fondue”..? No matter what… “en Guete”!
Hi Peter! I think you are onto something… It would be fun to try and create such events to see whether people “get it”. Also, if you were to do this in the US, you could offer smores to complement the choco-bananas ;-)
Yes, that sounds really funny :))
I think you can copy it to anywhere and change the name respectively to Beach Fondue, Lake Fondue, Park Fondue, etc.
However, if you want to try a specialist’s one, you can find lots of them on MyTable.com (and book directly online!).
Claudia