Kid-Friendly Cheese Fondue?

[Basilgirl]

I want to make cheese fondue for an 11-year-old on New Year's Eve - he's never had it. What can I use as a substitute for the white wine? Apple cider? Sparkling apple cider? I'm flummoxed.

[torakris]

My 3 kids (ages 8, 6 and 4) all love fondue and I have never taken the wine out...

As I don't have a fondue pot, I make it in a donabe (Japanese clay pot), first I rub it all over with garlic and then I pour in the wine and burn the alcohol off and then add the cheeses. my kids love it and have never had a problem, I even made it once for a kid's party.....won't do that again though....a bunch of kids with spears in their hands???

[NulloModo]

Yeah, I'm thinking that the minute amount of alcohol present in the wine for fondue shouldn't be an issue, even if it doesn't burn all the way off. After all, drinking wine straight by 11 isn't unheard of, or even uncommon, once you get away from our puritanical shores.

[therese]

Just make it with the wine. My kids love it, and have been eating it since they were toddlers.

[Dani Mc]

I agree. Make it with the wine. There's probably more booze in cough syrup than there will be in that fondue once you've had it cooking for a few.

[Basilgirl]

I know that most of the alcohol cooks out, but you don't know this kid's mother...if she even THOUGHT that I'd put wine in it she would freak out, much less if she knew. Maybe I'll just not tell him what's in it...

[Rachel Perlow]

You could use beer instead.

[Boris_A]

I want to make cheese fondue for an 11-year-old on New Year's Eve - he's never had it. What can I use as a substitute for the white wine? Apple cider? Sparkling apple cider? I'm flummoxed.

←

I suggest a "Fondue Fribourgeois".

It's a traditional Swiss recipe and it's made with water instead of wine. The "Vacherin Fribourgeois" cheese (a completely different thing from "Vacherin Mont d'Or") is a mild, kid friendly cheese. As noted in the recipe, this fondue should never boil!

I don't know about your local supply, but for example Zingerman has it on it's list of mountain cheeses.

BTW, on Zingerman's page about Vacherin, there's a remark about a 50/50 mix with Gruyère, the ""half and half" or "moitié/moitié" (a classic cheese fondue with wine), which is really the best blend for a great Swiss cheese fondue. And if you order at Zingerman, don't miss a piece of Etivaz, a mountain gruyère made by by raw milk and exactly the same way as more than 100 years ago.

Edited December 2, 2004 by Boris_A (log)

[Susan G]

The alcohol esters cook out after five minutes of boiling. Given that fondue tastes best when the wine is cooked and reduced by half (which means you need twice the wine the recipe calls for), you're home free.

Sparkling cider for the beverages, que no?