Fondue has been a popular American dining experience for more than fifty years, and although some people opt to set up their fondue at home, countless Americans still flock to one restaurant in particular for its extensive menu—The Melting Pot. In Issue 9 of American Lifestyle magazine, we got a behind-the-scenes look at how the restaurant has expanded to offer far more than just melted cheese.
An excerpt from “Isn’t it Time to Fondue Something Different Tonight: The Melting Pot Phenomenon“
In the 70s, fondue pots were the hottest thing to hit wedding gift tables, (and eventually storage boxes in the basement). Not surprisingly, the first Melting Pot restaurant took root in 1975, in Maitland, Florida.
By all accounts, eating the melted-cheese dish of fondue is a Swiss tradition. Numerous references agree that cheese fondue originated high in the Swiss mountains, the product of thrifty Swiss cow herders who spent long hours in the snow-covered pastures with sparse provisions. Like the American cowboys of the Wild West, the Swiss herders used what they had to sustain themselves. In this case, an abundance of cheese products, loaves of bread, and bottles of wine helped ward off the chill.The dish made its way from the fields onto the tables of the Swiss aristocracy by way of kitchen servants, who prepared the simple dish with the nobles’ finer quality cheeses and wines, and served it with the house’s fresh assortment of crusty
The dish made its way from the fields onto the tables of the Swiss aristocracy by way of kitchen servants, who prepared the simple dish with the nobles’ fine quality cheeses and wines, and served it with the house’s fresh assortment of crusty breads.
Want to read more about the history of fondue and it’s expanse into American cuisine? Keep reading by downloading “Isn’t it Time to Fondue Something Different Tonight: The Melting Pot Phenomenon” from Issue 9 of American Lifestyle magazine.