food in the seventies.Fondue

Fondue dipping pots were all the rage at parties. Melted cheese was kept warm in a pot over a small flame. Long dipping forks were used to spear and dip bread cubes, veggies and fruit. Buffet tables held such treasures as pigs-in-a-blanket, gazpacho and creme brulee. College campus weekends rocked with keg parties and home chefs displayed their culinary skills at dinner parties

• Swiss cheese fondue
  275g/10oz gruyère cheese
• 275g/10oz emmental cheese
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half
• 300-400ml/10-14fl oz white wine
• 5 tbsp kirsch
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of nutmeg

To serve

• 600g/1¼lb good crusty white bread (or garlic bread), cubed
• raw vegetables, sliced
• ham, cooked, cut into cubes

Preparation method

1. Rub the cut edges of the garlic clove around an earthenware fondue set.
2. Pour in the wine and heat until just simmering.
3. Add the cheese and stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
4. When the mixture is bubbly but not burning, stir in the cornflour blended with two tablespoons of kirsch.
5. Add the pepper and nutmeg and continue stirring.
6. Transfer to a fondue stove on the table.
7. Take care not to let the fondue burn and make sure it is always being stirred.
8. Serve with bread or garlic bread, cooked ham cubes, cherry tomatoes, celery or other raw vegetables.
9. Place the rest of the kirsch in a dipping bowl and dip the bread into this before dipping into the cheese fondue