CHEESE FONDUE BONNEVAL SUR ARC, SAVOY

I love cheese fondue every now and then.

They don't use plain flour, but cornstarch, more known in France and Switserland as "Maizena".

Better to dissolve it in some Kirch (which is an "eau de vie", not a brandy) first and then add it to the cheese/wine mixture.

You forgot to rub the fondue pot with a clove of garlic, that would be very un-french.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARGCATA 

To the Retired Chef,

 

He who has nothing nice to say, should NOT say anything ... Your commentary was a little too NASTY actually for a blogger.

 

 

Since I'm the only one who responded to your thread, you may have mixed up people. If you're referring to me in your post I'm quoting, I need to inform you that I'm not a retired chef, nor do I have a blog. I did however have close relations with journalism and communication in general, but that's a long time ago.

If you refer to me, sorry if you struggled in digesting my post. But since you are a journalist, it would be nice for the readers to be served the correct information, don't you think?

I know for a fact that in many fondues Maïzena is used, which is -sorry- cornstarch, not corn flour. So, if you had it made in another way like you discribed in the recipe, so be it, but it's still unusual.

Kirch is simply german for cherry as you may know. Again, I feel sorry to have to reconfirm that the transparant eau de vie that is made from cherries is not a brandy. Brandy is made from the distillation of wine, just like Cognac.

And I have to disappoint you again, but rubbing the pot with a clove of garlic is very common use in making fondue.

All in all, I'm glad to see you communicating, that's what a forum is all about, isn't it?

Maybe this will interest you. It's a very wellknown producer of eau de vie in France. I had the pleasure to taste more than a dozen different species of his fabulous eau de vies. Here's the website, enjoy; http://www.distillerie-mette.info/web/

Chris is mistaken.  An eau de vie IS a clear brandy, distilled from a fruit wine.  He's also having problems with German.  The German word for cherry is kirsche, not kirch.  A kirche is a church, which is taking eau de vie too seriously.  As far as I know (darn little) kirch wasn't a German word until used in this thread.

Here the flour is used not to thicken but to bind the different cheeses to one another and to the liquids.  While flour might not produce quite as silky or glossy a result as corn starch, it's every bit as effective; and in the quantities used in this recipe I don't think using one instead of the other would make much difference in texture.  On the one hand, flour needs more and more prolonged heat to get the raw off of it, and fully employ its binding qualities.  On the other hand, corn starch has a tendency to let go of alcohols and acids, so if there's a lot of booze in a cheese fondue which is going to be held for any length of time, perhaps flour would hold up better.   .

As I understand it, this is a recipe MARGCATA encountered and enjoyed in her travels.  It's not surprising she'd post it as it was given, as she attributed it, and as she ate it.  Perhaps, as the sophisticated cook she is, if she adjusted the recipe she might try corn starch... or not.  "Quien sabe?" 

Hope this isn't too nasty,

BDL

One can use corn starch, flour, arrowroot, modified food starch. potato starch, tapioca starch all a matter of preference. The cheese is tossed in it , and it helps also to keep the butter fat or oil in the cheeses from collecting on top of fondue. You might say it binds them together. I love the part that sticks to the bottom of the fondue pot.