Recipe: Savoyard Fondue

Name: Savoyard Fondue
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 21 oz (600 g) Beaufort Fermier; 21 oz (600 g) Comté Fermier; 14 oz (400 g) Emmental of fine quality or Tomme de Savoie; 2.5 cups (60 cl) dry white wine (Fendant, Apremont, Roussette Chardonnay du Bugey...); 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1.4 fl oz (4 cl) kirsch; 1 garlic clove, degerminated; Freshly ground pepper and nutmeg; Sourdough bread aged one or two days

By chef patrick Asfaux 5/5 (30 reviews) · 🍳 23 made it

Recipe Savoyard Fondue - Chef Patrick Asfaux — Photo: Aftouch-cuisine

Prep 5 min

Cook 15 min

Total 20 min

Servings 6 serv.

Savoyard fondue is a traditional dish from the Savoie region in the French Alps. It is made with melted cheese, usually Abondance, Beaufort or Comté, mixed with beer or white wine and seasoned with spices such as garlic and pepper. The ingredients are melted in a caquelon, a stone or cast iron pot, and served with chunks of bread for dipping.

Ingredients for 6 servings

Adjust for

servings

21 oz (600 g) Beaufort Fermier
21 oz (600 g) Comté Fermier
14 oz (400 g) Emmental of fine quality or Tomme de Savoie
2.5 cups (60 cl) dry white wine (Fendant, Apremont, Roussette Chardonnay du Bugey...)
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1.4 fl oz (4 cl) kirsch
1 garlic clove, degerminated
Freshly ground pepper and nutmeg
Sourdough bread aged one or two days

Step-by-step directions

1 Rub the inside of your caquelon with the garlic clove, cut in half and degerminated.

2 Cut your bread into small cubes.

3 Heat the caquelon, add the white wine and the cheese cubes. Season with pepper and add a grating of nutmeg, then add the cornstarch mixture and stir with a wooden spatula until you reach the desired consistency.

4 Place the caquelon on your heating source in the middle of the table (preferably use an electric heater or gel fuel). Each guest then spears their pieces of bread on a fondue fork and dips it into the hot cheese.

To accompany this Savoyard fondue, serve the same wine used in the preparation. In our case, we enjoyed it with a very good and lively Chardonnay from Bugey.

Of course, and I already know it, this recipe will be open to debate (smiles). Especially if I tell you it can be transformed into Auvergne fondue by only melting cubes of Saint-Nectaire, peeled, in the same quantities (more smiles).

A chef's advice

Pour the cold white wine into the caquelon, wait for the first trembles, then gradually add the cheese cubes while stirring. This is where it matters: too fast and the fondue becomes grainy; too slow and it won't thicken properly. The cornstarch mixed with kirsch is your safety net. And for serving, use sourdough bread aged at least a day, otherwise it absorbs too much liquid and slips off the fork.