| St Aiden's Family Day Fondue |
| It's Family Day and what better way to spend quality time together than having a "hands-on" meal where everybody gets to choose what they eat, and then have great fun cooking it. As a precaution this activity should NOT be undertaken without adult supervision. |
| There are many different recipes for this famous traditional Swiss dish, but certain procedures are common to them all. Fondue is always eaten with a piece of bread on a fork, which is twirled in the mixture (sauce) as it is kept warm over a low flame at the table. Fondue dishes are usually made of oven-proof earthenware, or enamelled cast iron and a "fondue set" often has special forks as well as the essential spirit stove. The fondue is given a stir each time with the fork, which helps to prevent the mixture from separating. As a general rule, mature cheeses are most suitable for a fondue as they melt more easily than newer ones. A dry white wine is normally used for making the fondue. A few fondue recipes are featured in these pages. IF the fondue is too liquid a little extra cheese or a little cornflour should be stirred in. IF it is too thick a little lukewarm white wine stirred slowly in will rectify matters but experts in making fondues never use thickening agents. In South Africa, while the cheese fondue is still popular where the cheese is continuously stirred and kept over the low flame, an exciting concept (not terribly healthy though) is to have a variety of ingredients that require cooking in sunflower oil, which then replaces the cheese over the flame. The cheese and other sauces then are served separately while being kept warm over a warming palette. This 'greater variety" fondue is the one which we are going to focus on in these pages. A word of caution that the oil gets very hot and that where children are concerned especially, adult supervision is vital as children love to choose and cook their own food. |
In preparing for your fondue, take a variety of
ingredients cut into 2,5 x 2,5 cm (1" x 1") cubes,
such as
It is also a tasty and colourful addition to have
vegetable sticks, sliced to about half the width of
a finger. Vegetables suitable for this are
Baby tomatoes, stuffed olives, cocktail onions
and cocktail gherkins make a popular addition
as a side serving
The chosen ingredient (or ingredients) are
skewered onto the fondue fork and placed into
the hot oil until cooked through. When cooked
they are removed from the oil, drained, and
dipped into a sauce of choice, which is being
kept warm on a warming palette.
We have selected the following fondue & sauce
recipes as an addition to your fondue. While the
preparation takes quite a while, the effort is well
worthwhile when you see the amount of fun to
be had!
ingredients cut into 2,5 x 2,5 cm (1" x 1") cubes,
such as
- 2,5 cm x 2,5cm (1" by 1") cubes of mature
rump steak - Variety of breads, preferably a day old
- Cocktail sausages
- Chicken nuggets (in batter or crumbs)
- Potato nuggets (in batter or crumbs)
- Bacon & Cheese Rolls - where a cube of
cheese is wrapped inside a slice of streaky
bacon and fastened with a toothpick - Button mushrooms, washed and cleaned
It is also a tasty and colourful addition to have
vegetable sticks, sliced to about half the width of
a finger. Vegetables suitable for this are
- Celery Sticks
- Carrot Sticks
Baby tomatoes, stuffed olives, cocktail onions
and cocktail gherkins make a popular addition
as a side serving
The chosen ingredient (or ingredients) are
skewered onto the fondue fork and placed into
the hot oil until cooked through. When cooked
they are removed from the oil, drained, and
dipped into a sauce of choice, which is being
kept warm on a warming palette.
We have selected the following fondue & sauce
recipes as an addition to your fondue. While the
preparation takes quite a while, the effort is well
worthwhile when you see the amount of fun to
be had!
