The original cheese fondue

Press, 26 February 1983, Page 10

The original cheese fondue

Food & Fable

by

David Burton

Think of Switzerland and you may visualise cows with bells or chaps in funny costumes blowing alpenhorns, but it is just as likely your association will be with the famous, holed Emmental cheese.

Originating many centuries ago in the Emmental Valley in the west of Switzerland, the cheese is still made there today, although the industry has spread to other parts of the country. However, genuine Emmental is still produced in relatively small village dairies, a far cry from the large, stainless steel, automated lines seen elsewhere in the West.

The average weekly output of a Swiss dairy is two dozen cheeses, which seems miniscule until you realise that an Emmental cheese weighs 80 odd kilograms, the yield of an equal number of cows.

Emmental is one of the few cheeses to be made from raw milk only, which is heated and treated with rennet to separate out into curds and whey. The former is pressed into round moulds, salted, bathed in brine) then left for seven to 10 months in humid conditions to develop its shining gas holes and distinctive flavour.

As early as Roman times, there was a demand for the Helvetian cheese of the Swiss alps. It was only with the growth of cities and the improvement of communications (particularly the opening of the St Gotthard Pass into Italy in the thirteenth century) that the export trade really got underway.

Demand soared in the early seventeenth century with the Thirty Years War in Germany. Traders began to send Emmental cheese down the Rhine in barges to ports in Holland, where they were valued as ships stores on account of their keeping qualities. To cope with the increased demand, the alpine cowherders began taking over the communally-owned alpine meadows, or Gemeinalpen. In the eighteenth century actual production of f h’e

cheeses began to move from the mountain huts to dairies in the valleys, still the basis of production today. Genuine Emmental cheese has a hard, yellowish brown rind with “Switzerland” stamped in red ink all over. The hazelnut aroma and sweet-dry flavour should not be bitter or sharp in any way. When cooked, Emmental has a tendency to draw threads, but is used in the classic Swiss fondue to balance the flavour of the stronger Gruyere. Gruyere is also named after the region in which it was first made — Gruyere, in the canton of Fribourg. In 1115 the first Count of Gruyere began demanding a church tax for his newly built Abbey of Rougemont, which the people paid partly in the form of Gruyere cheese. Like Emmental, Gruyere was soon being exported to neighbouring France and Italy. Round Gruyere cheeses are only about half the size of Emmental cheeses, and during their 10 to 12 month ripening period they are kept moister and cooler than Emmental, meaning that there is less gas formation. This results in small cracks rather than large holes. Just across the border in the . Jura mountains the neighbouring French also have a long tradition of Gruyere cheesemaking. Personally, I prefer this French gruyere in fondues on account of its stronger flavour. Fondue Neuchaieloise When I was visiting the charming old world Swiss village of Hallau I was lucky enough to stay with a Swiss couple. Peter and Cordula Banzinger, who one night showed me how to make this genuine-Swiss cheese fondue. 300 g Gruyere cheese 300 g Emmental cheese 3 tbs flour

1 clove garlic, cut 2 cups dry white wine small pinch nutmeg 3 tbs kirsch salt and pepper Grate the cheeses (in Switzerland the shops will do this for you while you wait) or chop them finely and toss with the flour to ensure each piece of cheese is coated. Rub a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the cut clove of garlic, then pour in wine and heat until bubbles begin to rise from the bottom. Add a third of the cheese mixture and stir briskly with a wooden spoon until melted. At no time must the mixture boil, or else it will become impossibly stringy. Add the rest of the cheese in two lots, stirring well between additions, then add nutmeg and kirsch. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a table burner. • • • This should be sufficient for about four people, depending on what other food you serve with it. A simple lettuce salad to offset the richness of the fondue is a good idea. You will not need potatoes or rice since you should provide .plenty of cubed French bread to dip into it at the end of a fork. As a variation, some sliced pieces of gherkin, some olives and some carrot sticks might also be provided. I have even heard that the Swiss sometimes dip in pieces of raw garlic along with the bread. Kirsch, the potent clear distillation of cherries, really does make a difference to the flavour. It is traditional in Switzerland to provide kirsch (sometimes tea, less often wine) to drink with the fondue. For an especially fiery mouthful you can quickly dunk a cube of bread into the kirsch before dipping it in the fondue. The types and proportions of cheeses can be varied according to individual preferences, but obviously you will not get a genuine Swiss fondue unless you use imported Swiss Emmental and Gruyere cheeses. However, to buy the real thing in the quantities needed for this recipe will cost somewhere in the region of $l3, and thus many people will resort to cheaper local versions. There is an excellent Tasmanian Emmental, possibly a little stronger and sweeter than the Swiss, which sells for about $l2 a kilo (as against about $2O for thg Swiss). To my taste this

is a perfectly acceptable substitute. New Zealand-made gruyere is readily available and sells for about a quarter of the price of Swiss or French gruyere, but it has

less flavour and is also sweeter and spongier in texture. To save costs, I have found a good compromise is to use a mixture of local and imported gruyere.