The First Dish

I made fondue this weekend. This isn't the first time I've attempted it, but it is the first time I was really pleased with the outcome.

I go to Cape Cod every Columbus Day weekend with my mom and any other family members and friends who feel like going. This year my two brothers, one of my sisters, my parents' neighbor, and her daughter joined my mom and me.

We usually try to plan a few meals so that we don't spend too much money eating out. The cool, crisp fall weather that has finally started setting in reminded me of my fondue set, and I offered to make a fondue for one of our meals.

I have one of those fondue pots that is meant for broth or oil fondues, not cheese or chocolate. After a few burnt cheese fondues, I finally realized this, and so with this attempt, I decided to set my fondue pot up as a double boiler. (I must confess: I got this idea while dining at The Melting Pot.) I filled the fondue pot with water and set a small stainless steel bowl in it. While the water started heating up, I made the fondue on the stove top, which is actually the way fondue is typically made. When I first started looking at fondue recipes, I was surprised to learn that none of them instructed me to make the fondue in the pot, at least none of the cheese recipes.

I found two recipes from Gourmet on Epicurious.com and sort of combined them. I caramelized shallots, added some pinot grigio, some Gruyere, and some Emmental, and voila, I had fondue.

I transferred some of the fondue to the fondue pot. Because the water wasn't quite hot enough at this point, the cheese started to congeal. I removed the cover from the flame and got the water boiling, and the cheese started to melt again. At this point, the pot had been dipped into enough that I could refill it with the hot cheese that was still on the stove. After that, everything went smoothly.

My fellow fondue eaters and I had arranged bread chunks (french and sourdough), steamed asparagus and broccoli, boiled potatoes, cubed steak, and lobster around the fondue pot. We soon discovered that it all went so well with the cheese. We were also having salad, and I drizzled some of the cheese over my tomatoes. It was wonderful.

I watched my 12-year-old brother -- who had made faces at the fondue and swore he wouldn't go near it -- sneak bread chunks into the pot of gooey cheese.

I tried to convince my very picky sister that there were no onions in the cheese; after all, they were shallots. But she didn't believe me and casually replied, "When we went through the self checkout at Stop & Shop, it said, 'Please remove your onions.'" Oh well, more fondue for the rest of us.

The thing with fondue is that it's not just about cooking; it's about the experience and the people you get to share it with. I think having family and friends there to try it with me made it especially delicious.