The above measurements are for one person. Multiply by your number of guests.

In Switzerland, fondue is usually prepared in a "caquelon, " and earthenware dish with a handle, glazed inside. If you do not have a fondue pot with stand and Sterno heat source, use an enameled saucepan, or not-too-shallow fire proof dish. Rub the inside of the pan with half a cut clove of garlic and let it dry until the rubbed places feel tacky. Put the wine in the dish and bring it to a boil. Slowly start adding cheese to the boiling wine, stirring constantly until each bit is dissolved before adding the next.

When all the cheese is in, reduce heat. In a small dish, combine the Kirsh and cornstarch, stirring well; add to the cheese mixture and keep stirring over heat until the mixture comes to a boil again. Add freshly ground pepper and nutmeg to taste. Remove the dish to the stand and light Sterno. The fondue should remain bubbling slowly. Provide each guest with a fondue fork or bamboo skewer. Guests then proceed to spear a bread cube and stir it around in the cheese and then eat it.

the dish, you must buy a round of drinks for the table; if female, you must kiss everybody. Other lore: Do not drink water with fondue; it reacts unkindly in your stomach with the cheese and bread. Dry white wine and tea are the usual accompaniments. Another tradition: the "coupe d'midi" or "shot in the middle", for when you get full. A thimbleful of Kirsch, knocked straight back in the middle of the meal usually produces more room if you're feeling too full. The crusty bit that forms at the bottom of the pot as the cheese keeps cooking is called the "crouton" and is very nice peeled off and divvied up among the guests as a sort of farewell to dinner.

<cranew@foothill. Net> on Oct 22, 97