Host a Fondue Party

Is it fondue or fun-do? You and your guests will love this unique way of enjoying a meal together. Everything is prepared ahead of time, making it easy for you to relax and enjoy the gathering with your guests. With everyone sitting together and cooking their own food, it sets a relaxed pace and atmosphere for the evening, where great conversations can happen. It might just become a holiday tradition!

Setting the Stage

• • Plan what you are going to serve, and enlist the help of guests to provide something for the meal if you wish. For an appetizer/dessert fondue party, choose Cheese Fondue (see recipe) and Spiced Rum–White Chocolate Fondue (see recipe), or turn it into an entire meal by adding Herbed IPA Fondue (see recipe) and a green salad.
• • Gather fondue pots from friends and neighbors. Have one fondue pot for every four to six guests for each type of fondue served. Electric fondue pots are the easiest for controlling the heat. As cold food is added and then gets cooking, you can quickly adjust the controls to maintain the correct cooking temperature.
• • Set the table using both regular silverware and two fondue forks (of the same color) per person. Fondue forks generally have colored areas on the handles so that each guest can tell which forks are theirs when in the pots.
• • Use fondue plates that have compartments to keep uncooked and cooked foods separate, or provide small bowls or plates near each place setting for uncooked meat, leaving the dinner plate for cooked food.
• • Cut up all foods for the fondue in advance. Prep all the ingredients for the fondue mixture or serve-with sauces.
• • Have the fondue pots in place and ready to fill when guests arrive. Take care to avoid burns by securing cords so that guests won’t accidentally trip over them on the way to the table or pull on them when seated.

As Guests Arrive

• • Offer your guests a beverage and then put them to work! They’ll quickly get into the interactive nature of the evening when you have them fill water glasses, open wine or carry food to the table.
• • Have a few competitive guests? If you’re making cheese fondue for eight to twelve guests, have two guests each make a pot of it at the table and vote during the evening on which is better!
• • When it’s time for dessert, clear the other dishes and fondue from the table and start fresh with clean plates, silverware and fondue forks.

Fun-Do Time

• • As guests are seated, explain how each fondue works, which foods to cook in each fondue and what sauces go well with the cooked foods. For example, veggies can be cooked in the Herbed IPA Fondue (see recipe) and then dunked in the Cheese Fondue (see recipe) before eating!
• • Have everyone designate one fondue fork for each type of fondue.
• • Share joy not germs: once food is cooked, use regular forks to eat the food.
• • Fondue folklore says that if you lose a piece of food in a fondue, then you have to kiss the person next to you!