Italian Fondue
Fonduta Differs From Swiss And Savoy Fondues
While overwhelmingly identified with Switzerland, it would be fairer to call cheese fondue an Alpine dish (although there’s Jura fondue too).
In any case, what’s ‘’Swiss’’, ‘’French’’, or ‘’Italian’’ is all irrelevant anyway since these country definitions came relatively late in the scheme of things, which is to say the 19th century, and fondue – while no one can pin an exact date, or place for that matter, on its inception – goes further back than that, to the 1600s at least.
Authentic Fontina Cheese Is A Must
It is said that the first recipes found for fondue include eggs – which fonduta includes to this day. Other ingredients are butter, milk, and Fontina cheese when it’s still relatively young and creamy. This cheese is made from unpasteurized cow’s milk, has a milk fat content of 45%, and little holes in it that look like air bubbles.
The cheese needs to be the real thing, not the imitations, which is to say that it needs to be cut from a wheel marked ‘’Fontina, Zona di Produzione Regione Autonoma, Valle d’Aosta, DOP’’. The text will be accompanied by a stylized image of the Cervino, or Matterhorn, one of the highest Alps that lies on the border of Canton Valais in Switzerland and the Aosta Valley in Italy.
The ‘’DOP’’ stands for Denominazione di origine protetta, which in English is rendered as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). This is a hallmark of guarantee that everything about the product – from ingredients to on-site traditional means of production – stems 100% from the declared place of origin.
How Fonduta Differs From Other Fondues
Although there are single-cheese fondues in Switzerland, more common recipes are those like the moitié-moitié (half and half) comprising Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois. A typical Savoy fondue includes thirds of Comté, Beaufort, and Emmental. But on no account do these fondues contain eggs, just as Italian fonduta does not contain garlic or wine, cornstarch or other thickener, as Swiss and French fondues do.
The latter are also a communal dish, which diners tuck into by dipping in crusty rustic chunks of bread (in Switzerland) or baguette (in France). Because of the wine, garlic, and whatever is fueling the burner under the fondue pot, these fondues will leave a strong smell in the place they are cooked, and in any case are more of a winter dish.
Fonduta, however, a specialty of both Piedmont and the Valle d’Aosta in Italy, is served in an individual bowl with toasted bread slices surrounding it. It can also be a lovely sauce to go over risotto, pasta, polenta, rice, meat and vegetables – not least potatoes and asparagus. So it’s lighter, more versatile. Finally: nothing could be more unappetizing than cold fondue. Cold fonduta, on the other hand, is also excellent as a spread.
White Truffle Is The Finishing Touch
The star feature of fonduta is that it is an excellent vehicle for the prized and deliciously aromatic white truffle. Just a few shavings of the tuber are grated over the surface as the fonduta is served.
While truffle prices vary year to year, count $2,000 per pound as a ball park figure. Alba (Piedmont) is the best-known hub for the fungus, which grows underground and is sniffed out in the fall by trained truffle dogs. Locals in areas where the truffles thrive can collect their own truffles at no cost. But white truffles are also available at autumnal markets held in Tuscan towns like San Miniato and San Giovanni d'Asso. The latter is home to a truffle museum. The market in Alba particularly draws international chefs, restaurateurs and gourmets.
Authentic Fontina
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