Fondue, or how to agree to disagree

Switzerland: chocolate, chalets, watches, banks… and fondue. Abroad, it’s hard to find a more universally recognised symbol. Except that in Switzerland, this dish – which is supposed to embody national conviviality – is often accompanied by minor controversies, right down to the bottom of the fondue pot. Let’s start with the controversial question: is fondue really Swiss? Savoy in neighbouring France, in particular, also claims to have invented the dish – a claim that is not entirely without foundation. More broadly speaking, people were melting cheese long before the Swiss Confederation came into being. The idea is an ancient one: traces of it can already be found in the Iliad. Homer describes a mixture of grated goat’s cheese, wine and barley flour, heated until it forms a sort of porridge. This idea of melted cheese mixed with alcohol even reached the British Isles, that hotbed of gastronomic daring where people have no qualms about serving warm beer, stuffed sheep’s stomach and …

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