Happy National Cheese Fondue Day! And yes, I do fondue. Who wouldn’t enjoy sitting around a table with friends, dunking cubes of bread in a
bubbling pot of molten cheese and wine, and savoring the flavors of the Alps…
Mine is always very traditional, with Emmentaler…
And Appenzeller…
A true one-pot meal…
Fondue was a sensation in America in the 70’s…
And it’s still a luxurious treat.
“Cheese is milk’s leap toward immortality.” Fadiman
Queso Aní is a raw goat’s milk cheese made by Anita Gonzalez (after who the cheese is named) in Asturias, Spain. She and her husband also make Queso Vare, a brined and aged goat milk cheese.
Queso Aní provides a nice balance of salty and sweet-milk flavors with a full mouth feel and slightly ammoniac finish.
Get it at Truffle Cheese Shop. For a real authentic Asturian-style treat, serve with apple butter and toasted walnuts.
These! Gougères! A French choux pastry puff made with cheeses such as Gruyère or Comté, gougères can be found at wine cellar tastings throughout Burgundy. I made mine with smoked Gouda so they’d stand up to a full-bodied red, and served them alongside a nice Cabernet. Light, with a savory smokiness, they paired well with the deep fruit notes and tannins in the wine.
And I, along with more than a few Dutchmen, prefer nettles in Gouda! It’s very nice…made with nettle tops and matured for 8 to 10 weeks, Nettle Gouda provides the typical characteristic nuttiness paired with a sweet herbiness from the nettles that’s a perfect foil for more assertive flavors. I serve mine with tangy/sharp cornichons, vinegary pickled onions (known as Silver Onions in Holland), red wine and garlic-marinated mushrooms, and pumpernickel bread. To drink? I had an IPA to really round out the bottom end, but a lemony Belgian Witbier like Hoegaarden would be an excellent choice, too.I find my Nettle Gouda at The Truffle Cheese Shop here in Denver, and it’s widely available at better cheese mongers in the U.S.
Raisin/Sauternes
Jam. This is easy. Incredibly so, and nobody has to know how little effort you
actually put into it. If you like raisins half as much as I do, you and your
fortunate guests are sure to enjoy it. It’s jam. It takes about 15 minutes. And
it has only two ingredients.
Here’s
what you’ll need: Sultanas, also known as golden raisins. What’s the difference
between sultans and regular raisins? Sultanas get their golden color from sulfuring,
the same as dried apricots. I think they look a sight more appetizing than the
dark ones. A 15 ounce box is perfect.
Half the box makes about a cup of jam, the whole shebang makes two.
And a
375ml bottle of Sauternes, a blended French dessert wine from Sauternais
(wonder how they came up with the name). These are interesting wines, as they
have a slightly raisiney flavor from the noble rot that affects the Sémillonure>
Here’s
how you make it. Place the desired amount of raisins in an appropriately sized sauté
pan. This better than a soup pan as the process goes very quickly owing to the
large surface area exposed. Then pour in the Sauternes to cover by just a bit.
Over medium heat, simmer until the raisins are plump and the wine’s reduced a
bit. Remove from the heat and let cool for a while…maybe have a glass of wine
while this is happening. Then, dump the whole thing into a food processor and
pulse until it reaches the desired consistency. That’s up to you. I left mine a
little chunky.
Let rest for an hour or two and serve it at room temperature. You can have it for
breakfast, as in the photograph, spread on organic whole wheat toast and
accompanied by salted butter and some Irish breakfast tea. Or spoon some in a
bowl and serve alongside some fine Roquefort, Stilton,
or a washed-rind cheese such as Epoisses de Bourgogne. Those are the cheese I’d pair with the
Sauternes, too. I think it’d be good on buttermilk biscuits and water crackers
as well.
The flavor is sublime and raisiney-sweet with a touch of tang and a little extra
bottom-end from the wine, rustic in its simplicity but complex enough from the
Sauternes to hold its own among strong and assertive cheeses.
Well,
that’s that. And as Philip Jason said,”He who sees age on the outside of things
is doomed to underestimate the vitality of raisins.”
