Fondue

Fondue (UK: /ˈfɒndjuː/ FON-dew, US: /fɒnˈdjuː/ fon-DEW, French: [fɔ̃dy], Swiss Standard German: [fɔ̃ːˈdyː] ^ⓘ; Italian: fonduta) is a Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served in a communal pot (caquelon or fondue pot) over a portable stove (réchaud) heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread and sometimes vegetables or other foods into the cheese using long-stemmed forks. It was promoted as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union (Schweizerische Käseunion) in the 1930s.

Since the 1950s, the term "fondue" has been generalized to other dishes in which a food is dipped into a communal pot of liquid kept hot in a fondue pot: chocolate fondue, fondue au chocolat, in which pieces of fruit or pastry are dipped into a melted chocolate mixture, fondue bourguignonne, in which pieces of meat are cooked in hot oil, and fondue chinoise (hot pot).