Here is my fave fondue recipe...it's cheeky, but it's good. Believe it or not, cheese has seasons. While great cheese is realistically an exercise in controlled spoilage, there is such a thing as a freshness factor, even in reference to what the famed French gourmand Brillat Savarin referred to as "smelling like the feet of God". Because the best milk, with the richest flavor and highest fat content comes from animals grazed on fully developed summer time pastures redolent with clover and other greenery, look for fermier (farmhouse) cheese made from mid to late summer milk. This type of milk produces the best of the fresh goat cheeses in early fall, the best bloomed rind cheeses such as Brie or Camembert in mid October and so on.

While the length of the affinage (cheese ripening) is less meaningful for fresh cheeses or 6 year old aged cheddars, timing can be crucial for the cheeses that need to age 4-6 months when it comes to eating. Ideally one likes to eat cheese at its peak of flavor and dozens of the worlds best cheeses are ready right now. Gruyere, Appenzeller, Vacherin, Vermont Shepherd, Fontina d'Aosta and especially Roquefort and Gorgonzola are amongst the best bets. Compose a seasonal cheese board for your next weekend get-together and then use the leftover nubbins to make this incredible fondue.