We found a Fondue set at the local thrift store and as we love cheese we gave it a go last night. We bought the pictured cheese at the local grocery store and it wasn’t really what I expected. I guess in my mind I was thinking salty, gooey, dip your pretzel in at the baseball game kind of cheese. This seemed to have a really sweet wine taste, is that just how fondue tastes or did I buy some average cheese?
by bart1218
7 Comments
This is basically a premade kit for fondue. Look up different recipes to fit your palate. For pretzel dipping i would go with a beer cheese recipe.
It’s traditionally made with white wine and kirsch. So yes it should taste like that. It isn’t salty because it is typically made with alpine cheeses that use little salt.
The traditional recipe is ementaler, gruyere, and Raclette, which can actually contain a great deal of salt when made in the artisanal way. The whole point of gruyere was that it was a high salt, hard-pressed cheese that would survive travel around the Alps. But processed kits like that are known to be bland AF, geared toward a mild palate.
There are several ways you could “fix” this:
1. Use artisanal/farmstead cheeses, real garlic, and high quality salted butter in your recipe. This is the most expensive and fussy option.
2. Start mixing in or subbing out other alpine or semi firm cheeses that you like or want to experiment with. Havarti and fontina texture (“semi-firm”) work great, so maybe a horseradish, pepper, or mustard version would suit you. I like to add truffled cheeses to mine, but that’s a divisive flavor lol
3. Go for a completely different recipe, like beer cheese or Mac and cheese sauce, something with sharp cheddar and paprika and other seasonings.
ETA: y’all can just calm down, the OP is using straight up mystery cheese. Now is not the time to get gate-keepy about fondue. If it melts, and you like the taste, go for it.
I made the mistake of trying it once. I don’t know what was wrong we me when I bought it. My previous career as a heavy drinker doesn’t even explain it. I’m so embarrassed.
This tastes almost exactly like homemade Swiss fondue. It’s not a dip that you would get at a ball game.
Make your own recipes.
I would suggest an emulsifying agent to go with whatever cheeses you want. This is how process cheeses are able to melt smoothly.
I like to use sodium citrate
I once made it using some camping fuel inside that nearly fumigated the house and would have probably kill my self my misses and her kid.
So it’s not that bad.
Fondue is just cooking, if you don’t like the recipe change it.
Sounds like u needed more pepper.