Fondue is a Swiss dish where you dip pieces of food into a pot of melted cheese, chocolate, or hot oil placed at the center of the table. The word comes from the French verb meaning “to melt.”

The most traditional version uses melted cheese. You spear a chunk of bread on a long fork and swirl it through the warm, creamy cheese. In Switzerland, families would gather around the pot on cold winter nights, sharing the meal together. The cheese fondue pot, called a caquelon, sits over a small flame to keep the cheese from hardening.

Chocolate fondue works the same way but uses melted chocolate instead. You might dip strawberries, marshmallows, or pieces of pound cake into the warm chocolate. Some restaurants also serve fondue bourguignonne, where diners cook small pieces of meat in hot oil.

Fondue became wildly popular in America during the 1960s and 1970s. People loved the interactive, social nature of the meal. Everyone sits around the same pot, talking and laughing while they eat. The Swiss have a playful tradition: if you drop your bread into the cheese, you might owe everyone at the table a small treat or favor.