Enjoy the Savoyard fondue

Savoyard fondue is a dish that comes from Savoyard gastronomy. Very popular in France, it is a convivial dish that is often prepared during the winter. To have it on the table, you have to look for typical products of the region where it comes from, including Beaufort and Emmental de Savoie.

If you only have a few minutes, here is a wine that goes perfectly with Savoyard fondue:

  • The Alsace wine Gewurztraminer "Le Moulin de Charles" from Domaine Schmitt & Carrer.

To prepare a Savoyard fondue

The Savoyard fondue which will be presented below is a preparation for 4 people. To do this, you must take these few cheeses: 400 g of Comté, 400 g of Beaufort and 400 g of Emmental from Savoie. You also need 30 cl of white wine, a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of powdered nutmeg, a teaspoon of cornstarch or cornstarch, a glass of kirsch and possibly an egg yolk. You will also need salt and pepper.

Put yourself in the oven

For the preparation of the Savoyard fondue, it takes less than an hour. Start by dicing your cheeses. Take the fondue pot and rub it with the garlic clove and leave it in. Pour 25 cl of white wine into the fondue pot and heat. At this stage, you can heat directly on your fondue set. Take the rest of your white wine and put it in a container with the cornflour or cornstarch and nutmeg powder. Mix these ingredients well and set aside. When the wine in the caquelon is bubbling, gradually pour in the diced cheese and stir constantly with a wooden spatula. Also remember to lower your fire. When the cheese is well melted, take the wine, cornstarch and nutmeg powder mixture that you left aside and pour it into the preparation. Keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken. Finally pour the glass of kirsch and pepper. You can also add a little salt, if you want. At the end of cooking, you can add the egg yolk to the fondue pot to add more consistency to your Savoyard fondue.

The secrets of preparation

To make a good Savoyard fondue, you need about 250 g of cheese per person. When you get to the step where you need to melt the cheese cubes in the wine, put the preparation on low heat. As you add the cheese cubes, you can increase the heat slightly and make sure the preparation does not come to a boil. To stir the preparation, make movements in 8 with your wooden spatula.

For the service

You can put the fondue pot on the fondue set. You can also pour it into ramekins so that the tasting of this very good dish is done individually. For the service and to treat the 4 people, take at least 2 baguettes. Cut it into small pieces and using a large pick, dip your piece of bread in the warm or still hot fondue. To savor this preparation, you can take baguette bread, but for it to be a real delight, choose stale bread, country bread or sourdough bread.

Taste the Savoyard fondue with…

With Savoyard fondue and bread only, you will quickly get tired of it. To bring a little freshness to your dish, prepare a green salad or cauliflower or broccoli florets on the side. You can serve it with Savoyard fondue and bread. As a drink, you can take the rest of the white wine that you used for the preparation. When your fondue pot is almost empty and everyone is still having a great time, break an egg yolk into the fondue and scramble for a few minutes. Put the new preparation back on the table, it will be a treat.

The cheeses used

For this preparation, you mainly need three cheeses, including Beaufort, Emmental and Comté. In the list of ingredients, the Comté will stand out, because it is not a Savoyard product. If you want a 100% Savoyard preparation, you can replace it with Gruyère de Savoie. For the recipe, you can also use reblochon which is also a Savoy cheese. Some cooks add raclette cheese to this fondue for more flavor and for an even creamier side.

Why white wine?

For this preparation, forget the red wine, because its tannins do not marry with the melted cheese side. The white wine is the one that will have to go into this preparation and for an impeccable result choose a dry white wine which will bring you more acidity. White wine also has a meatier texture, which provides balance with the melt and fatness of the cheeses used for Savoyarde fondue. This wine will also bring more consistency and flavor to the preparation. At the tasting, you will have fat, but also freshness.

Create a perfect alliance between white wine and cheeses

For a tasting treat, choose a good wine. In order to have perfect food and wine pairings, it is wiser to choose among the white wines of Savoie. At your wine merchant, you can pick up a bottle of Roussette white Savoie wine, a bottle of Abymes white Savoie wine, a bottle of Jacquère white Savoie wine or a bottle of Monthoux white Savoie wine . If you can't find any, you can choose wines from neighboring regions.