Though it is one of Switzerland’s most treasured dishes, the record for the largest fondue in the world has now been broken by France. On February 22, 5.000 people tucked into over 2.100 kilograms of fondue, to great dismay across the cantons.
At the event at Fort des Rousses - just a few kilometres from the Swiss border - a massive pot of fondue was forged. 40 wheels of Comté cheese aged nine to 24 months, two kilos of garlic, 1,5 kilos of white pepper, 55 kilos of cornstarch and hundreds of litres of chardonnay and savagnin were poured into an immense copper fondue pot. After it had been heated up and mixed to perfection with a giant automated mixer, the fondue was served to 5.000 people in an all-you-can-eat cheese bonanza.
Sporting a size of two cubic metres and a weight of 2.177 kilos, the organisers were officially awarded the Guinness World Record, beating the Swiss record set in 2009 - though technically there was no Guinness record to surpass, as the attempt in La Chaux-de-Fonds, which created 1.440-kilos of cheesy goodness, was not certified.
"It's a great moment of collective enthusiasm and the culmination of a year of preparation," organiser Jean-Charles Arnaud told the AFP. Tellingly, he concluded by challenging competitors from across the border: "I dream of one thing, that the Swiss want to beat our record."
Video: FRANCE 24 English / YouTube
Since the record was broken, Swiss cheesemakers have been up in arms. Many are in denial, with some writing into RTS to question whether using Comté in fondue was allowed, as it creates a much stringier mix than a traditional fondue. Arnaud responded that the Americans could try and break the fondue record with cheddar, and it would still count.
"Making a fondue cannot be improvised, and it must be served at the right time, at the right temperature," Pierre-Ivan Guyot, president of the official association for Gruyère cheese, told RTS. He said that with “solid skills, a quality fondue mix and adequate infrastructure”, you would be able to make a perfect Swiss fondue on a large scale - when the record was first attempted in Neuchâtel in 1998, the mixture was stirred by members of the local wrestling club.
Needless to say, the Romandie is not going to take the French record lying down. "Fondue is made with Gruyère, period…We would like to organise a Romand event," cheesemaker Philippe Geinoz told Blick. Guyot concluded that while it is early days, they would definitely try to re-take the record for Switzerland using an authentic local recipe.