At the Cheese Cellar in the New York World’s Fair Swiss Pavilion, where a continual dunking party was in progress, thousands of amateurs learned such basic things as not to overcook the Fondue lest it become stringy, and the protocol of dunking in turn and keeping the mass in continual motion until the next on the Fondue line dips in his cube of bread.  The success of the dish depends on making it quickly, keeping it gently a-bubble and never letting it stand still for a split second.

The Swiss, who consume three or four times as much cheese per capita as we, and almost twice as much as the French, are willing to share Fondue honors with the French Alpine province of Savoy, a natural cheese cellar with almost two dozen distinctive types of its very own, such as Fat cheese, also called Death’s Head; La Grande Bornand, a luscious half-dried sheep’s milker; Chevrotins, small, dry goat milk cheeses; and Le Vacherin.  The latter, made in both Savoy and Switzerland, boasts two interesting variants: 

1. Vacherin Fondue or Spiced Fondue: Made about the same as Emmentaler, ripened to sharp age, and then melted, spices added and the cheese re-formed.  It is also called Spiced Fondue and sells for about two dollars a pound.  Named Fondue from being melted, though it’s really recooked,

2. Vacherin a la Main: This is a curiosity in cheeses, resembling a cold, uncooked Fondue.  Made of cow’s milk, it is round, a foot in diameter and half a foot high.  It is salted and aged until the rind is hard and the inside more runny than the ripest Camembert, so it can be eaten with a spoon (like the cooked Fondue) as well as spread on bread.  The local name for it is Tome de Montagne.

Here is a good assortment of Fondues: 

 Vacherin-Fribourg Fondue

2 tablespoons butter 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 cups shredded Vacherin cheese 2 tablespoons hot water

This authentic quickie is started by cooking the garlic in butter until the butter is melted.  Then remove garlic and reduce heat.  Add the soft cheese and stir with silver fork until smooth and velvety.  Add the water in little splashes, stirring constantly in one direction.  Dunk! (In this melted Swiss a little water takes the place of a lot of wine.)

 La Fondue Comtois

This regional specialty of Franche-Comte is made with white wine.  Sauterne, Chablis, Riesling or any Rhenish type will serve splendidly.  Also use butter, grated Gruyere, beaten eggs and that touch of garlic.

 Chives Fondue

3 cups grated Swiss cheese 3 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons butter 1 garlic clove, crushed 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives 1 cup dry white wine Salt Freshly ground pepper A pinch of nutmeg 1/4 cup kirsch