It's Food History Friday. Let's talk about one of my favorite things, cheese fondue. The word fondue comes from the French word "fondre" meaning to melt. Cheese, wine, and garlic are the basic ingredients in fondue, but other ingredients such as herbs, paprika, nutmeg, and mustard may be added. It was in Switzerland in the 18th century that fondue was created. The goal was to feed families who had limited access to fresh food in the winter. The cheese would age while the bread was getting stale. However, some brilliant folks discovered that if they heated the cheese with wine, garlic, and herbs the bread would soften with the cheesy mixture. The first known written recipe for fondue was in 18th century cookbooks in France and Belgium. Those recipes stated to use the very Swiss cheese, Gruyère,. America was introduced to fondue in 1964 at the New York World's Fair at the Swiss Pavilion Alpine restaurant. It’s a tradition that if a man drops his piece of bread in the fondue pot, he must buy a round of drinks. If a woman loses her bread in the pot, she must kiss all her neighbors. Let's hope those neighbors are cute. There are variations on this, have some fun with it next time you get your fondue on! PS- April 11th is National Cheese Fondue Day! ( tomorrow!) #fondue #cheese #gastronomy #culinarycourtesan #swisscheese #gruyere #wine #cheeseandwine #cookbooks #fondre #cheeseandbread #foodhistorian #foodhistoryfriday (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-zzi_3DRvy/?igshid=1kz01ql0nt6g0