vip in the city

The big cheese

Lucerne-based dairy group Emmi took over the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden this afternoon as part of a Swiss celebration, co-sponsored by Le Gruyère AOC, Swiss Tourism, Swiss International Airlines and Gondrand. Highlights included yodelers and Alpine horn players, but the highlight of the event was the 1,300 kilo cheese fondue — the would-be record holder for the “World’s Largest Fondue… outside of Switzerland.” (Again, there is such a record?)

Why the biggest outside Switzerland, you ask? Well, because the unqualified world record for largest fondue was set in 1998 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and out of deference to fondue’s status as the Swiss national dish, this new American-made fondue was made to be just short of the quantity required to overtake that record.

The giant “caquelon”, or traditional style Swiss fondue pot, measured 1.5 meters in diameter; in it was melted 700 kilos of approximately three dozen gruyère cheese varieties specially brought in from Switzerland, plus another 600 kilos of white wine, Kirschwasser and herbs. The mix was presided over by several hairnetted men, wielding giant paddles.

Approximately 3,000 people shared in the highly aromatic fondue, which was doled out into smaller plastic buckets, and ladled into freshly baked, hollowed out buns. Mmm, melted cheese on bread — a centuries-old, but winning combination.

Preview: Check out my photos from CultureFest 2007 on flickr.