Years ago when fondue made it's first go round here, we had a party. The table was half of an old ping pong table set on cinder blocks, we all sat on floor pillows and between each couple there was a fondue pot. (There were 8 couples). On one side was hot oil for the meat fondue (now people use stock to cook meat in) on the other side was cheese. Partners were expected to cook and dip for each other. It was quite nice.

Meat in cooked oil is wonderful as described above. Fondue pots can be used for other things too. If you have several, you can have one with melted cheese for dipping vegetables (raw or firm cooked) and bits of bread (avoid bread that makes crumbs) and the cheese can have additions such as chopped cooked onion, tomato bits, bacon bits, drained chopped green chili or whatever sounds good. A pot of melted chocolate would be good for dipping strawberries or maraschino cherries. Any fruit that is firm and not drippy.

Lee AKA Fireraven9
When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than
the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined
branches, do not the stately shadows of the wood, the stillness of
the place, and the awful gloom of this doomed cavern then strike
you with the presence of a deity? -Â Â Seneca

As with anything else, making excellent fondue lies in the details. For cheese fondue - Rub your pot with garlic, add some cloves to the pot. I recommend 3 cheeses - a third each of Sbrinz, Grüyere, and Vacherin. You may have to substitute in the states - I would look in the net for comparable cheeses. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding the Grüyere. You need some white wine - something Swiss or French to pour in the pot until the grated cheese is soaked. More wine for a thinner, less for a thicker fondue. Begin cooking you fondue on the stovestop til cheese is melted, and before moving to the rechaud add a shot glass of kirsch mixed with a teaspoon of cornstarch, and some seasonings: pepper, nutmeg, lemon zest, and perhaps some chives at the end. Bread is the traditional dipper for this fondue - be sure to have a few types light and dark and with seeds or nuts. You can also dip the things mentioned above. Drink white wine, or hot tea with this meal and until digested to prevent stomach ache.

Fondue Chinoise is fondue with very think pieces of meat (chicken, turkey, pork, veal, beef, and small meatballs) cooked in boullion. The pieces have to be thin or else they will not cook all the way through. This is a very simple fondue to make - you need a pot with boullion (perhaps add some onions, or veggies), the meat, and several sauces to dip the meat in once it's been cooked. It's also good to have some rice or salad on the side, olives and other finger foods to satisfy people as they wait for their meat to cook. Important here is hygiene - here we use a different fork to cook the meat with than to eat it, we have sectioned plates so no raw meat juices seep into other food ...
After your meal is over, add some sherry to the broth and enjoy a delicious soup!

Fondue Bourgignonne is cubes of meat cooked in oil. There are lots of good recipes in the net for this ... Good luck and En guete!!

Michelle - you made that sound so good -- and easy! I've not had fondue in years.

I should have mentionned for the cheese fondue - for two hungry people we use 450g cheese (150g of each).

We use to also use small squares of Angel Food cake for the chocolate fondue.

Didn't have time to read through all the posts but we also had lots of dipping sauces for the cooked veggies, chicken, beef etc. Mustard-based, Horse-radish based, good 'ole ranch style, bleu cheese etc. - and then tartar sauce and Shrimp cocktail sauce for shrimp or fish. There are endless possibilities!!

Always used just the box tempura batters to batter veggies, cheeses, meats, seafoods, etc. It stands up well. Would make it a bit too thick to start and then experiment with thinning it out a bit at a time if needed.

You could make it a 70ies themed party and have your guests dress in bell-bottoms and listen to Disco music. Break out the earth tones! :)

Also there's a lot of good recipes at this site.

Have fun.

ant

Here is a link that might be useful: Fondue Recipes

Funny to see this old thread resurrected. I believe Lee, Fireraven died about 2 years ago. I still miss her postings.
Linda C

Ooops, I didn't notice the date on this when I did a search. I guess they already had their fondue party by now. :)

ant