Cheese fondue les Alpages

Stage 19, Modane – Alpe-D'Huez: Gabriel loves the food of the Alps, especially the cheeses. He meets a master affineur, Bernard Mure-Ravaud – a cheesemonger who selects and ripens the best cheeses of the Alps region. In the kitchen, Bernard shows Gabriel the secret of making a delicious cheese fondue. You need a cheese fondue set.

• serves

  4-8

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

400 g Beaufort cheese

200 g Abondance cheese

400 g Compté cheese

about 250ml dry white wine

one-day-old baguette, cut into 1cm slices and toasted (optional)

Instructions

Trim the rind of all the cheeses and grate the cheeses very finely. Don’t press on the grated cheese.

Place half the wine in a fondue pan over low heat. Add about one-third of the cheese and, using a wooden spoon, start melting the cheese. When the cheese is melting well, add half of the remaining wine and the remaining cheese. Stir until it starts to melt. Then add the remaining wine and cheese and stir again until it has almost melted. Lift the cheese from the pan a little to give it a bit of elasticity.

When the cheese is stretchy, it is ready. Avoid allowing the fondue to become too hot and don’t boil it.

Cut the baguette slices in half.

Keep the fondue warm on a fondue burner. Attach pieces of bread to fondue forks and dip the bread in the cheese, twisting the fork for the cheese to stick to the bread.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.