I’m another who’s enjoyed fondue. A lot. Mind you, I’ve never done it at a restaurant, and am not sure I’d want to try it there, but at home, it’s a fun meal. Of course we’ve always done it with broth, and then had a variety of dipping sauces for the cooked meat. I’d really not want an oil based fondue.
Geez people, just because you had some bad fondue doesn’t mean all fondue is bad. If you never had pizza before, and I took you to someplace where the box tasted better than the pizza, you’d be missing out on a lot of great pizza if you decided that no pizza would ever be better than that box.
Heathens, all of you!
Now I have a craving for fondue. Dammit!
There are several different ‘fondues’ being discussed here.
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Cheese and white wine melted, bits of bread used as a dip. Very yummy. This is the real ‘Fondue’.
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Chocolate melted and fruit dipped. No comment.
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Meat and veg (and also noodles) cooked in a broth in a big pot on the table - people grab their own bits of thin sliced meat and veg and dunk them and eat them. This is a Chinese (or sometimes ‘Mongolian’) hotpot, popular here in winter. Nothing to do with classic ‘fondue’.
Hah, our forfeits were always a lot more fun than that. Hmmm, kisses from Swiss, French and Bosnian women. Even better than fondue!
Put me down as one of the few who loves grease fondue. At least I did when I was a kid. Maybe it was just the idea of having my own colored fork and taking a little bit of charge over my own culinary delights.
I also find it hilarious that people here are indignant that they have to cook their own food at a fondue restaurant. It’s like the thread about having to pick your own food at a Mongolian BBQ. Or a (theoretical) rant about having to make your own salad at a fine restaurant. It really sounds pretty ignorant, and it’s pretty funny to the rest of us.
Yep, Chinese firepot. Yummy. Start with broth leftover from last time (the older the broth, the more complex the flavors). Use to cook raw chicken, beef, veggies. Dip them in various Chinese sauces. When the meat is gone, poach some eggs and eat those. Finsh by ladling a little broth over some cooked rice. Save the remaining broth for next time.
Chinese hotpot is our traditional Christmas meal in our house. For one thing, everyone gets exactly what they want, so those who like shrimp can have shrimp. Those that don’t can have chicken. And you only eat vegetables you like. For another thing, it reduces how much cooking I have to do on Christmas day. In fact, if I buy precut veggies and deshelled shrimp, all I have to do is thaw those while I cut chicken breasts into cubes. Cleanup is also a breeze.
I do like cheese fondue, too. However, while I’ve heard about Burgundy fondue, it has never appealed to me to dip beef into hot oil.
That said, Korean BBQ is really cool, too. Seasoned meat that you cook at the table on a small grill as you are ready to eat it, served with small bowls of pickled vegetables and rice. I also had raclette when I lived in France, but I haven’t been able to find too many Americans who enjoy it.
Agreed with the OP and all subsequent agreeers.
It’s bad. All formats.
Stupid way to prepare food. Okay, maybe not “throw up” bad*, but just think of all the much nicer meals you could have cooked in the time you spend sitting there dipping things with a stick like an idiot. Even the chocolate one is pointless. If you have to have fruit and warm chocolate, just have something like a Poire Belle Helene and eat it with a spoon like a civilised person. Chocolate fondue is okay for the under eights. All other forms are no good at all.
*Although excess of meat did make me throw after a fondue meal as a kid which might partly explain why I’m so set against it. The other part is actually liking food.
To fondue or not to fondue is up to ue.
Chocolate, cheese, lean beef, no chicken please, are delectable to those who enjoy them and abhorrent to those who don’t.
It is like the farmer who said as he kissed the cow, “Every one to their own tast!” :rolleyes:
Most of your parents have fondue pots stuck way in the back of a kitchen cupboard.
They were last used for a dinner party in September of 1977.
This should explain everything.