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Fondus in Cases
Put a quarter of a pound of grated cheese in a basin with two tablespoonfuls of warmed butter and the yolks of two eggs; season with salt and pepper, and stir well together. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, then add them gradually to the cheese, stirring lightly. Take some paper cases and fill three parts with the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven. When cooked and lightly browned, arrange on a folded napkin, and serve.
Despite the name, this is a small cheese souffl he a melted-cheese dip el the French fondu of Oscar's day meant a baked cheese custard lightened with beaten whites. The hinge is the folding: the whites carry the whole rise, so treat them gently and get the cases into the oven at once.
- QuantitiesA quarter pound of grated cheese is about 4 oz, roughly a cup loosely packed. With two tablespoons of butter and two eggs the mixture will fill something like six to eight small cases, though the recipe names neither a yield nor a number of servings.
- "A moderate oven"Usually read today as somewhere around 350F. Much hotter and the tops brown before the centres set; much cooler and they never lift.
- Paper casesThese were stiff, straight-sided paper cases of the kind used for small baked and moulded dishes. Ramekins or a muffin tin lined with parchment cups work, though the mixture needs the support of a rigid mould -- a limp cupcake liner will slump.
- "Fill three parts"Three-quarters full, and no more. The mixture climbs as it bakes and will spill over a fully filled case.
- The cheeseThe recipe says only "grated cheese." A firm dry grating cheese such as Gruyère or an aged Cheddar suits the method best; a fresh or high-moisture cheese weeps fat and undermines the structure.
- Warmed butterWarmed only to soft or barely melted, not hot. Hot butter poured onto raw yolks begins to cook them and the base turns grainy.
- Folding the whitesAdd the whites in two or three additions and cut through the mixture rather than stirring it round. Some visible streaks of white are better than a deflated, homogeneous batter.
- Timing and servingSmall cases in a moderate oven will want roughly 15 to 20 minutes, until risen, set at the centre and lightly coloured. They sink quickly once out of the oven, so the folded napkin the recipe calls for takes them straight to the table.
In late nineteenth-century hotel cookery fondu covered a family of baked cheese preparations, and it is quite distinct from the Swiss pot of melted cheese and wine that later took over the word in English. Serving them in individual paper cases was a restaurant convention: the case went to the table with the dish, so nothing had to be turned out or portioned in front of the guest, and the folded napkin steadied it on the plate. Oscar Tschirky, who ran the Waldorf's dining rooms from its opening in 1893, would have known such small hot cheese dishes as the sort of course that closed a dinner in the English manner or filled out a supper menu after the theatre.