Do You Fondue? Celebrate Chocolate Fondue Day in Banff

I’m not sure why Chocolate Fondue Day is not a national holiday - it should be! I mean, spending hours dipping goodies into vats of melted chocolate is reason enough to take a day off work. Right?

Never had the pleasure of indulging your tastebuds with this most satisfying of taste experiences? Curious what people may wish to dip in oh-so-good melty chocolate? I could argue that there really isn’t a bad thing to dip in chocolate… but most often you’ll be offered bits of fruit (pineapple is particularly delectable dipped in warm chocolate, strawberries rather excellent, bits of melon - yummmmm… excuse me while I wipe the drool from my keyboard…), but cubes of bread or cake work as well. 

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Who Invented Fondue?

Who dreamed up this particular dish? You could be forgiven for thinking it must have been the brainchild of a French chef - heaven knows the French know how to play with chocolate and, yes, the word is derived from fondre, the French word for melt.

In fact, dipping stuff in melted cheese is a Swiss dish that dates back to the 1600s when bread was the dipping item of choice.

Chocolate fondue, though, was invented much more recently by Konrad Egli who owned the Chalet Suisse restaurant in New York.  In the 1960s he added a dessert version of traditional cheese fondues to the menu in part because he was involved with a sponsorship deal with the Toblerone chocolate company.

FOODIE FACT: While cheese fondues may be infused with wine, you’re more likely to find chefs adding a little rum or cherry brandy to a chocolate fondue. 

Ticino Swiss-Italian Restaurant in Banff is the locals go-to destination for fondue… cheese or chocolate (Image: Ticino Swiss-Italian Restaurant)

One of the things I love most about fondues (chocolate or cheese) is their communal nature.

Rather than each person having a bowl in which to dip, a single fondue pot perched over a  candle or other small flame in the middle of the table means everyone who gathers around the table to share the meal also shares the same fondue pot. Double-dipping isn’t encouraged, but that’s why the morsels used to load up and deliver chocolate to mouth are perfectly sized for a single mouthful of scrumptiousness. 

Don’t Drop Your Bread in the Fondue Pot!!!

Be warned, if you drop your bread off the end of your fondue fork and it disappears into the chocolate brew you’ll be penalized by running down Banff Avenue naked as a Canada jay.

Don’t believe me?

I speaketh the truth (sort of). Tradition does have it that bread-droppers are teased, made to sing songs, buy a round of drinks or, yes, take a sprint through the snow sans … well, anything. 

Sound like a super fun way to spend an evening with friends? Looking for great fondue in Banff? You can’t do much better than Ticino, Banff’s bona fide family-run Swiss-Italian restaurant. Their chocolate fondue (fonduta di cioccolata) is served with seasonal fruits and house-made banana bread. 

And, best news of all, they don’t wait until Chocolate Fondue Day to serve this house specialty! It’s on the menu year-round!

Oh. Yes. Please. So good, you’ll be tempted to eat dessert first!