Fondue cooking is making a comeback from the backburner its been sitting on for the past several years. I’d venture to guess that some of this renewed popularity is due to increasing world migration and travel trends that are exposing people to gastronomic influences from more and more countries, a sort of global ‘melting pot’ of cuisines from around the world.
While many people may think of the traditional French and Swiss fondue recipes with emmenthal and gruyere cheeses and cubes of bread, many cultures have their own versions of fondue or hotpot cooking in a communal, do-it-yourself fashion. There’s Mongolian Hotpot, Chinese Steamboat, (which was the highlight of the Chinese New Year celebration I attended in Malaysia), Japanese sukiyaki, and Korean Firepot cooking, a regular affair in Korean restaurants and at picnics and barbecues.
Fondue and hot pot cooking make for warm, intimate meals for two — or a few. Fondue sets make great gifts, especially for weddings and Christmas. Find the perfect fondue set for your Christmas gift list here.
