Yum

Our first fondue was a success! As you can see from the picture, we emptied the bowl. One thing I've learned from the process of researching how to make fondue is that everyone has a bit of advice or their own personal touch that they like to share. Things like: "Always stir the cheese in a figure eight pattern as it melts" (rather than in a circular motion), "Always cut the bread so that each piece has some crust", "In addition to dipping bread I like to dip boiled potatoes, apples, and pears", "If the fondue starts to separate, turn up the heat, add more corn starch and whisk briskly", "Never drink water with fondue--instead drink white wine (preferably a Swiss Fendant) or black tea"[note from Kirk--this is a critical piece of advice, as the combination of water and melted cheese can result in, umm...gastrointestinal distress], "Use the same Fendant in the fondue as you plan to drink during the meal", etc. Believe me, all tips came in handy and I followed them all. [Another note from Kirk--we also didn't follow the advice of first dipping each piece of bread in Kirsch, which is a quite strong cherry brandy, or Schnapps as they call it here (unlike our relatively sweet Schnapps back home, this stuff will put hair on your chest in a hurry).] The best advice I got was to buy the Hausmischung (house mix) of cheese at the Milchhüsli Allschwil (thanks, Chris!) It was delicious. If you'd like to try it at home, here are a couple of recipes that I found helpful.