and around and around.

The dunkers stab the hunks of crusty French bread through the soft
part to secure a firm hold in the crust, for if your bread comes off
in dunking you pay a forfeit, often a bottle of wine.

The dunking is done as rhythmically as the stirring, guests taking
regular turns at twirling the fork to keep the cheese swirling. When
this "chafing dish cheese custard," as it has been called in England,
is ready for eating, each in turn thrusts in his fork, sops up a
mouthful with the bread for a sponge and gives the Fondue a final
stir, to keep it always moving in the same direction. All the while
the heat beneath the dish keeps it gently bubbling.

Such a Neufchatel party was a favorite of King Edward VII, especially
when he was stepping out as the Prince of Wales. He was as fond of
Fondue as most of the great gourmets of his day and preferred it to
Welsh Rabbit, perhaps because of the wine and kirsch that went into
it.

At such a party a little heated wine is added if the Fondue gets too
thick. When finally it has cooked down to a crust in the bottom of the
dish, this is forked out by the host and divided among the guests as a
very special dividend.

Any dry white wine will serve in a pinch, and the Switzerland Cheese
Association, in broadcasting this classical recipe, points out that
any dry rum, slivovitz, or brandy, including applejack, will be a
valid substitute for the kirsch. To us, applejack seems specially
suited, when we stop to consider our native taste that has married
apple pie to cheese since pioneer times.

In culinary usage fondue means "melting to an edible consistency" and
this, of course, doesn't refer to cheese alone, although we use it
chiefly for that.

In France Fondue is also the common name for a simple dish of eggs
scrambled with grated cheese and butter and served very hot on toasted
bread, or filled into fancy paper cases, quickly browned on top and
served at once. The reason for this is that all baked Fondues fall as
easily and as far as Souffles, although the latter are more noted for
this failing. There is a similarity in the soft fluffiness of both,
although the Fondues are always more moist. For there is a stiff,
stuffed-shirt buildup around any Souffle, suggesting a dressy dinner,
while Fondue started as a self-service dunking bowl.

Our modern tendency is to try to make over the original French Fondue
on the Welsh Rabbit model--to turn it into a sort of Frenc