fondue

The Luxist Awards' Guide to Holiday Entertaining: Best of 2009

Filed under: Dining

In 2009, the Luxist Awards has featured several articles in the Cadillac-ipedia that have offered tips ranging from how to serve, pair, store and enjoy a variety of festive dishes and libations, from truffles and foie gras to cheese, sustaiable caviar and of course, Champagne.

Here a few of our favorite tips with links to all of the relevant articles, to help you plan your holiday festivities.

Serving cheese
Remove from refrigerator one hour before serving to guests. Cheese is best consumed at room temperature. Don't slice the cheese until after it reaches room temperature.

Serving fondue
Fondue can be served as an appetizer, dessert, or even a full three-course meal. Traditionally, fondues are created with melted cheese, which is usually a blend of two different varieties of cheese. The fondue is often served with bread, vegetables and fruit. If served as a main course, broth or seasoned cooking oil is heated in the fondue pot, while chicken, beef, seafood and vegetables can be cooked at the table. A variety of dipping sauces can provide more flavor. Fondues consisting of molten chocolate is a delicious dessert, with bananas, strawberries and marshmallows great options for dipping.

Serving foie gras
Foie gras, which is the French word for "fat liver" is a delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavor is described as rich, buttery and delicate. It is served as a mousse, parfait or pâté.

Caviar options beyond Beluga
The finest caviar often comes from the sturgeon, a fish that has become endangered in many areas, including the Caspian Sean. There are a variety of other options available to avoid further depleting the ocean's resources. One Readers' Choice nominee, Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, raises its fish sustainably in Northern California. It's online operation offers caviar, roe, smoked delicacies and an array of caviar accessories.

Serving Champagne
The pouring temperature of Champagne will vary depending on the kind you will be serving. Young non-vintage champagne, with no year on the label, should be poured around 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit). Mature wines, on the other hand, such as vintage Champagne, should be poured between 12 to 14 degrees Celsius (54 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit). Champagne goes well with pasta salads, sea food, oysters, shrimps, light fishes and antipasti. It also goes well with a cheese course as well as with many desserts.

Tags: caviar, cheese, cocktails, entertainment-pedia, fondue, food-pedia, luxist-awards, main-pedia, truffles

How to Host the Perfect Fondue Party

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The word fondue comes from the French verb fondre, which means "to melt," and the practice actually originated in Switzerland as a way for both peasants and nobility alike to use up hardened cheese and/or stale bread. Nowadays there are fondue recipes for every course of a meal, from cheese to meat to chocolate, and hosting a fondue party has become a popular and easy way to have a classy social gathering. Fondue can be served as an appetizer, dessert, or even a full 3-course meal.

Cheese Fondue Traditionally cheese fondue is made with a blend of 2 or more cheeses, wine, and perhaps some spices or other seasonings. Offer an assortment of bread, vegetables, and fruit (granny smith apples pair surprisingly well with cheese) cut into bite-sized pieces for a first course, and maybe a light salad or broth-based soup if desired.

Communal Cooking is the center of the main course, along with seasonings and dipping sauces. Cubes of beef, chicken, shrimp, and seafood can be individually seasoned by your guests and cooked at the table (in a fondue mixture of butter, cooking oil, and seasonings) to suit their personal preferences. A variety of dipping sauces can provide even more flavor options, as well as plenty of fresh vegetables and bread for balance.

Chocolate Fondue As a final course anything goes when dipping into chocolate (the sky's the limit!) but one of the most popular choices is fresh strawberries or bananas. Other dipping choices for dessert include squares of cheesecake, brownies, angel food cake, and even marshmallows. Graham crackers and cookies make a nice option as well, along with possibly offering caramel or marshmallow-based dips.

Etiquette
Fondue is a communal experience and although traditionally all guests would eat from and then dip their forks repeatedly into the same pot, today's society dictates a different approach (unless of course you're all family and don't mind). Instead try having guests dip into the pot with the fondue fork and then use a separate fork to slide the bread, meat, or fruit onto a plate before eating it.

Finally, offer a variety of recipes, plenty of items to dip, and don't be afraid to experiment! Part of what makes fondue an interesting experience is the opportunity to blend, mix, and experiment with different flavors and flavor combinations.

Tags: awards-main, dinner party, DinnerParty, fondue, food-pedia, luxist-awards, main-pedia