TRAVEL: Searching for the secrets of fine fondue in Switzerland

You can't visit Switzerland without dipping into their array of cheese. Whether Gruyère, Vacherin, Tilsit, Emmenthal or Appenzeller, a fondue or raclette meal is a must.

I learned how how to make Swiss fondue, from alpine pasture to cheesy plate.

Cheese on cheese at the Hotel Edelweiss in Geneva

By CINDA CHAVICH

The restaurant is underground, below the Edelweiss Hotel lobby, perhaps because any self-respecting Genevois would rather keep these stereotypes from public view.

Once the yodeling starts, it's hard to hide the fact that this place has all the Swiss clichés covered — and the cheesier, the better. From stuffed Saint Bernard plush toys to happy wanderers serenading diners with a The Sound of Music medley rung out on tinkling cowbells, it doesn't get much kitschier than this.

Still, it's the standard stop for busloads of visiting tourists and conventioneers, and tonight it's crammed with doctors dunking bread in pots of cheese and lining up for a chance to press their lips against the soggy mouthpiece of the 12-foot alpenhorn propped across the stage. Think of it as your initiation into the Swiss Alpine club — like kissing a cod in Newfoundland or the Blarney Stone in Ireland — a dive (or dunk) into the land of fondue.

FINDING FONDUE IN GENEVA

A chef demonstrates how to make cheese fondue

It's the full-on Swiss alpine experience recreated in the centre of this suave business and banking city, a secret chalet below the urbane street scape. I've even received my official certificate of fondue cookery, after ducking into the kitchen to watch a chef quickly melt shredded cheese into a slurry of wine and potato starch.

But that's why we're here: for the cheese.

It's on the menu almost everywhere in this part of Switzerland, scraped in gooey masses off wheels of melting raclette, bubbling atop cast iron pans of crisp potato rosti, broiled on cheese toasts, and served in classic macaroni and cheese.

A classic Swiss cheese fondue served with cubes of fresh bread and wine

Dinner in a Swiss restaurant always includes cheese

And the piping hot enameled orange pots delivered to the table at the Edelweiss actually do offer a delicious example of this Swiss dish, filled with a rich medley of cheeses from every corner of the country.

The Gruyère, Vacherin, Tilsit, Emmenthal, Appenzeller and Corolle de Gruyère each brings its own character to the mix, and with pickles, cold cuts and crisp Swiss white wine, we're soon more than sated.

Heading to the famous cheese-making town of Gruyeres by train — the convenient way to travel in Switzerland

TRAVELING TO GRUYERES TO MEET SOME GRUYERE CHEESE MAKERS

The great Gruyère that forms the nice, nutty background to any perfect pot of fondue comes from a little mountain town by the same name in the nearby canton of Fribourg and I hop a train to investigate.

Our light-filled dome car is a mix of locals in transit and gawking tourists taking in the stunning mountain scenery. The track loops up from Vevey and around the east end of sparkling Lake Geneva, circling the rooftops of posh Montreaux, and it's not long before we're climbing through deep valleys dotted with dairy cows. At one of the quaint alpine stations, a couple of gangly boys with backpacks stuffed with climbing ropes get off for a day's recreation.

We switch trains, lured by the promise of cheese.

Quaint cobblestone streets of Gruyeres

GRUYERES IS A SWISS TOWN KNOWN FOR ITS' FAMOUS CHEESE

Gruyères is a busy tourist town, and the first stop is La Maison du Gruyère, a co-operative dairy making cheese with milk delivered from some of the 3,200 milk-producing farms in the region.

Robots wash & turn the Gruyere in massive aging rooms in Gruyere, Switzerland

It's also a working museum and visitors can watch the cheese-making and aging process through picture windows while listening to a running commentary (in several languages) on a hand-held phone.

Gruyere is made here twice a day, when milk deliveries arrive and, in the temperature-controlled aging cellar, a robot roams the aisles to turn the 7,000 massive wheels on schedule.

AOC GRUYERE CHEESE

We learn all about the history of Gruyère, an AOC cheese - controlled appellation of origin product - made in 200 cheese dairies in Le Gruyères region, where cows wander the fields with their cow-bells ringing like wind chimes.

The most coveted cheese is the Alpage, made from the milk collected in the summer when the cows are in the highest alpine pastures, with its hints of sweet wild flowers and herbs. You  can buy it in the gift store where a big cheese counter features Gruyère and other Swiss cheeses, and every kind of fondue pot, raclette machine, or otherwise cheesy souvenir you can imagine.

You can also hop on the Fondue Train - an historic little train that runs from Bulle to Montbovon several times every weekend — for a fondue tasting excursion.

More adventurous foodies can get a map of the hiking trails around Gruyères from the local tourist information centre and climb in warmer months through green alpine pastures, past pretty chalets, on a two-hour hike up to see how cheeses were made before modern automation took over.

Traditionally, the fresh milk for Gruyere is heated in copper cauldrons over open fires on alpine farms

Or just head to the local Musee Gruérien in Bulle, where a diorama approximates the cheese making process.

We opt for a walk up to the walled medieval town of Gruyères, with its small inns, restaurants and tidy castle, all primed for visitors. With cobblestone streets, mountain views in all directions and cows in the surrounding pastures, it's a bucolic place to spend an afternoon.

It's definitely a tourist town, though we find some interesting corners, from the surreal museum and bar created by avant-garde artist H.R. Giger (he won an Academy Award for his design work on Alien, and the bar's bizarre interior isn't far off that mark), to the sweeping views across the valley from the castle gardens. Plan your visit outside peak weekend and midday hours to avoid the crowds.

Giger Bar celebrates the Swiss artist H.R. Giger's surrealist work

COWS ARE US IN FRIBOURG

But it's really all about the cows — and the milk — here in the alpine canton of Fribourg.

A big cow bell for an award-winning cow

At the annual fall Désalpe festivals that celebrate the herds descending from their summer pastures, the best bovine milk producer in each alpine community is crowned the grand dame of the cows and paraded through town bedecked in flowers.

You'll see the scene depicted in the local folk art that decorates homes and restaurants — paintings of a family's black (or caramel) and white dairy cows, switching back and forth along the steep rural roads from alpine pastures and high summer chalets, to spend the snowy Swiss winters in hay-filled barns beneath valley farmhouses.

Cows descending from their high summer pastures to the valley below for winter, as depicted in local folk art

On an early September afternoon we only find a few young Holsteins in the fields. They come to the fence, curious, their individual bells clanging melodically when we approach.

Some day their rich milk will be made into the nutty Gruyère that was bubbling atop the potato and bacon rosti I dug out of a hot cast iron frying pan for lunch, the double cream poured over my Swiss meringue dessert, and those pots of fondue the raucous locals share with us at Le Fribourgeois café.

Fondue is a Fribourg specialty, the symbol of La Gruyere region, and all of Gruyere's artisan cheeses are perfect for the fondue pot!

Potato and bacon rosti is served in a hot cast iron frying pan with plenty of gooey Gruyere cheese on top

Want the real Swiss fondue experience?

Tips on where to stay and dine in Switzerland:

Hotel des Alpes Gruyere

Small but serviceable rooms in the heart of the busy little alpine town of Bulle.

Café Le Fribourgeois

A classic family restaurant for fondue and other local specialties in Bulle.

12 Place des Alpes, Bulle

Monsieur Blanc

At this bakery and tearoom you'll find deep yellow saffron bread, a specialty of the area, served with moutarde de benichon, a sweet and sour reduction of apples and pears.

5 Avenue de la Gare, Bulle

La Fleur de Lys

A typical tourist restaurant in this small hotel in the old town of Gruyeres – great view of the valley from the terrace and good traditional dishes including rösti with cheese.

14 Rue de Bourg, Gruyeres

RECIPE: CLASSIC SWISS FONDUE

Gruyere is essential for classic fondue. It’s usually combined with Emmenthal and Appenzeller, though can be mixed with other cheeses, including Tilsit and Vacherin.

Serve with good bread for dipping, and air-dried beef, smoked Swiss sausage and pickles alongside.

1 clove garlic, halved

¾ cup dry, fruity white wine

1.5 pounds Swiss cheeses (equal parts Gruyere, Emmenthal, Appenzeller), grated

1 -2 tablespoons cornstarch

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

grated nutmeg

cubes of crusty bread for dipping

Rub the inside of a fondue pot with the cut garlic cloves and add the wine. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

In a bowl, combine the shredded cheeses and toss with the cornstarch.

Add the cheese to the simmering wine, a handful at a time, stirring until melted. Season with salt, pepper and a light grating of nutmeg. Keep the mixture warm and serve bread cubes for dipping. Serves 4.

FINDING FONDUE CLOSER TO HOME IN CANADA

Banff, Alberta may be one of the best places to indulge your fondue fantasies. Thanks to all the Swiss mountaineers who first traveled here to guide climbers up unconquered peaks in 1897, fondue remains a Rocky Mountain tradition. Try it at:

The Grizzly House

All fondue, all the time — any kind of cheese, poultry or protein (from beef and venison to shellfish to rattlesnake, alligator and wild boar), The Grizzly House is the place for a fondue dinner. And yes, there's classic cheese fondue with Swiss cheeses and kirsch, too. The Grizzly House has been an institution in Banff for more than 50 years, opened in 1968 as "a disco era fondue den with a decidedly hedonistic streak."

Fairmont Banff Springs

Get a table in front of the fire at the Waldhaus Restaurant the cozy former clubhouse behind the historic Banff Springs Hotel, for cheese or beef, even chocolate, fondue, schnitzel and other Bavarian fare.

Walliser Stube

Lots of dark wood and big mountain views at the Walliser Stube at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, where you'll fined authentic Swiss fondue and and array of alpine dishes along with an impressive wine library.

Bluebird Woodfired Steakhouse

The Bluebird is the latest Banff restaurant turning fondue lovers' heads - an all-day dining spot with a menu that included fire-roasted vegetable, steaks and Classic Swiss Fondue, with extras like fingerling potatoes, shaved truffles or prime rib

This feature originally appeared in The Globe and Mail newspaper