Fondue party to end the holiday season

Fondue party, a quintessential winter food, is a fun way to end a holiday season. It can feed a crowd or a couple and you don't have to slave in the kitchen all day to whip it up.

For a small crowd - and for the Three Kings Day I like to have three basic types of fondues going:

a beef fondue, called Fondue Bourguignonne, a cheese fondue and a chocolate fondue for dessert. (For a bigger crowd I might add a seafood fondue cooked in an aromatic broth and wine.)

For a beef fondue I heat olive oil with red wine and the guests cook small cubes of beef fillet in it at the table. Then dip the meat in a variety of sauces, mostly cold, like a garlic dip (sour cream with minced garlic nad herbs), curry dip ( Greek yogurt, mango chutney, curry powder and cayenne) tomato-chipotle dip (sour cream or Greek yogurt, a touch of mayo, tomato paste, chipotle sauce and a touch of ketchup). I add to it some mango pickles, avocado and melon balls.

For a small party, where there is no side cheese fondue (Swiss version: ementhaler and gruyere cheese, white wine a little kirsch liqueur) going on at the side to dip vegetables (bell peppers in all color varieties, celery, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower of all colors, broccoli, champignones, etc.) and pieces of bread in, I serve also one hot sauce, bernaise, for dipping veggies.

Finally, a dessert: cut up fruits (pineapple, mango, papaya, pears) and strawberries dipped in chocolate fondue (melted chocolate with orange, coffee and chocolate liqueurs).

Happy ( and Tasty) Three Kings' Day!