Outdoor dining in Switzerland: a sheepskin to sit on and a blanket on top will keep you warm while you devour your cheese fondue. Photo: Liza Herz
If I could, I would charter a flight to Zürich and we’d all go eat cheese fondue together outdoors. Sadly, a private plane is too expensive and too large to fit into my February box (and it would contravene lockdown rules).
A February Box is really just an amped up Valentine’s gift to yourself which acknowledges that warmer weather is still weeks, maybe even months away, so we need better treats than just heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.
Choose one or all of the following. Because now is not the time to deny yourself anything.
Nothing says love better than melted cheese which may be why fondue pots are harder to come by right now. This one is nice and please do scroll down to the end of the story for the best Swiss fondue recipe ever.
Caudalie’s newest scent range, Soleil des Vignes, launched last summer, but I knew I’d need it now, when the scented bath gel with tiare (gardenia steeped in coconut oil) could lift me from my seasonal torpor.
REN’s Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil is a room filling, mind-alteringly wonderful bath classic.
When you are frozen solid and only a long soak will defrost you, Ren’s Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil, $61, with geranium, palmarosa and Moroccan rose otto, is the happiest ‘stay in the bath until your fingers go all pruny’ solution.
Did you know that fancy Portuguese fragrance line Claus Porto has a lower priced range of soaps, Ach Brito, which is as good, and as beautiful, as the more expensive main line? This bar of Luxo Banho is three quarters of a pound of snowy white, crisply-scented heaven. Available online and for curbside pickup from Toronto’s exquisite Saudade design shop.
Earthy and sensual, Balmy Summer roll-on fragrance ($36) from super-chic and super-chill west coast surf and style boutique Merge, is truly genderless, with notes of amber, vanilla and woody spruce. Wear this skin scent yourself or (in a not-so-selfless act) share it with your romantic partner.
Conjure a venerable hotel’s marble-clad bathroom by lighting this woody and creamy smelling Alpine Cedar scented candle ($42, Nordstrom.ca) from Canadian brand Maple & Lather, before soaking in the tub.
This white Rina Menardi cachepot $240, from Toronto’s Hopson Grace elevates your grocery store hyacinth and perfectly hides the ugly, black plastic pot it came in (no having to transplant, just pop the whole thing in.) And its gently bulbous shape harmonizes with contemporary decor or lightens up a room full of heavy antiques.
Rationalization, because it is rather pricy: it’s a modern classic that costs less than, and will afford you more pleasure than say, yet another pair of designer sunglasses (besides, everyone is buying $20 shades on Amazon now anyway.)
A very chic, über-hostess friend of mine bought a pair of Sunbeam heated blankets for hosting socially distanced coffee dates on her back patio this winter. Sheepskins are nice to sit on, but can you imagine diving under a soft fleece blanket?
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Authentic Cheese Fondue for two
Please try this cheese fondue recipe instead of defaulting to those foil pre-mixed packets at the grocery store. This version is easy to assemble (the only challenge may be in finding the perfect cheeses, see note below) and only takes minutes to pull together. It’s so worth it.
400 grams total of grated Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois cheese (see Note, below)
150 ml white wine, like a nice Riesling
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp kirsch
A round or loaf of sourdough or country bread with a deep crust, cut into bite-sized cubes
A plump clove of garlic
Instructions
Cut a garlic clove in half lengthwise and rub the cut side all over the interior of your fondue pot (caquelon) releasing the garlic juice. Leave the little garlic bits in the pot.
Whisk the cornstarch into the wine in a measuring cup. Pour this into your fondue pot with the bits of garlic still there.
Place the pot on the stove and heat the liquid over low-to-medium heat until hot but not boiling and then add all the cheese. Whisk constantly allowing the cheese to melt, paying special attention to scraping up the bits on the bottom of the pot and not letting the heat go too high.
Once the cheese has melted, add the kirsch. Remove the pot from the stove, light the heating element on your fondue stand (the ‘rechaud’) and place the pot on the stand. Adjust the heat so your cheese is hot enough but not furiously bubbling. Add a tiny bit more wine if it’s too thick.
Skewer your bread cubes on your fondue forks, dip and twist to remove excess cheese and enjoy. Tradition has it that anyone who loses a bread cube has to pay for the next bottle of wine.
As you eat and the amount of cheese in the pot goes down, you will have to turn down the heat so as not to burn what’s left. If there is a caramelized circle of cheese at the bottom of the pot when you are finished, carefully pry it off with a wooden spoon (not metal because it will scratch the finish) and enjoy.
This recipe increases easily. Add 200 grams of cheese and 75 ml of wine for each additional serving.
Note: a classic Swiss mix of cheeses for fondue can be as simple as the above half Gruyère and half Vacherin Fribourgeois version, but you can also add small (or larger) amounts of Emmentaler, Appenzeller and Challerhocker as well.