Ireland: Guinness and Cheddar Fondue (March 12, 2008)

Probably few nations have ever been as crazy about their dairy products as the Irish. Gaeilge has a word for the blanket concept -- banbhianna, the "white meats" -- and the ancient Irish diet was largely based on them for centuries. Back in the day, if you wanted meat, you ate pork, or game: cows were for giving milk, and only chieftains who were busy inventing the concept of conspicuous consumption ever killed a cow that could still be useful in the dairy.

The Irish hard cheeses, ancestors to Cheddar, were famous -- the great Queen Maeve herself was supposedly killed in battle by being hit in the head by a chunk of an early grating cheese called tanag which was slung at her, at fastball-or-better speeds, by one of her nephews. And about the fame of Guinness, nothing needs to be said here. It was probably only a matter of time before someone put them together. While this dish isn't strictly traditional, if the old Irish had ever heard of fondue, someone would probably have invented this in short order. As it is, the Guinness-and-cheese-fondue concept turned up in Ireland during the food renaissance of the late 80's, and can now be found in numerous Irish restaurants and pubs as a quick, easy-to-make, and delicious break from the normal meat-heavy entrees.

While Cheddar is a good place to start, if you have access to other Irish farmhouse cheeses, especially semi-hard melting cheeses like Ardrahan, adding those to the mix is a brilliant idea. Otherwise, any good aged Cheddar will work fine. Interestingly, this dish also works well with the classic Swiss fondue mix locally called moitie-moitie, or half and half, and made of equal parts Emmental and Gruyere.

Another Swiss technique that works well with this is to mix the thickening cornstarch/cornflour in a tot of Irish whiskey, and add it to the mixture in the final stages.

Click on "read more" for the recipe.

• 1 1/4 cups stout, such as Guinness (or, if you're a Corkonian, Beamish of course...)

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornflour / cornstarch
• 1 lb Irish melting cheese, grated (Cheddar works well)
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• A selection of raw vegetables for dunking: celery, cauliflower or broccoli florets, carrot sticks, button mushrooms, chunks of sweet bell pepper
• If desired: cubed, toasted cake-style soda bread

To prepare:

Heat the stout and lemon juice gently in a heavy pan until the Guinness is nearing the boiling point.

Mix the cornflour and cheese (or if you're adding the cornflour in a little whiskey, simply mix them together at this point). Add the cheese or cheese-and-cornstarch mixture gradually to the pan, stirring constantly until everything is blended and the cheese has completely melted. Season to taste and cook gently until the fondue thickens. If adding cornstarch in whiskey, do so when all the cheese is melted, and again, stir and cook gently until the fondue thickens.

Transfer to a fondue pot or similar chafing dish and bring to the table. (Please note that you must keep a heat source working under the pot: otherwise the fondue will turn into a solid rubbery substance in a matter of minutes.) Pass out the fondue forks and instruct the guests to spear and dunk the crudités / soda bread at will.

Probably the best thing to drink with this is more of the same stout you used to make it.

Enjoy!

(This recipe is part of the 2008 Festival of Traditional Irish Saint Patrick's Day Recipes at EuropeanCuisines.com. For the rest of the recipes, please check the menu at this page.)

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