Melting Cheeses For Fondue, Cheese Sauce & More

Part II: Cheese Sauces & Fondue

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This is Part 2 of a three-part article on melting cheeses. Click on the black links below to read the other parts.

Cheese Sauces

Sauces made with cheeses seem to present a special challenge to many people. How to prevent ending up with a casserole full of a separated, unappetizing mess? Again, pay attention to your melting technique.

Don’t just cut the cheese into large hunks, place it in the microwave and hope for the best. Shred, grate, or chop the cheese finely. Place your ingredients into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, then use a low heat to melt the cheeses. It is very helpful here to stir constantly, especially with a whisk.
I’ve read that stirring in a zigzag pattern is better than stirring in a circular motion, and I’ve read that you must always stir a sauce in the same direction. Over time, I’ve tried both, but I’ve also tried stirring in a circular motion in one direction, then switching to the other direction in the middle of cooking. I’ve seen no differences, so I’m not sure that stirring pattern makes a difference as long as you don’t allow the melting cheese to settle in any area on the bottom of the pot.

Fondue, Welsh Rabbit & More

People have been gobbling up melted cheese for a very long time. Fondue, the best-known of Swiss dishes, is probably of peasant origin, but no one knows for how long traveling herders had been combining cheese with wine in their cooking pots and dipping bread into the mixture. Similarly, quesadillas, a Mexican tradition, have been eaten for longer than anyone can say.

The once-famous Welsh rabbit (please don’t call it “rarebit”) is a very old formulation. There isn’t much agreement on how Welsh rabbit might have gotten its name, but my favorite story is that sharp cheese melted into ale or beer, served over crisp toast, was a substitute for meat when the men had been unsuccessful in their hunting that day. It was left to the women to fix a meal, and I wouldn’t doubt, some clever woman came up with the name.

And pizza? The ancestors of the “Italian” food we know and love today were probably being enjoyed by the Etruscans, Greeks or Phoenicians as early as the 700s—B.C.E.! Clearly, much of the world has had a love affair with melted cheese for many hundreds of years.

Food history aside, a melted cheese dish on a blustery, cold day is as satisfying for the soul as it is for the appetite. With a little care, melting your cheese can be a simple matter and one that yields ideal results every time.

Continue To Part III: Gruyère

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