Vitreous enamel

This is a commonly used, yet fanciful term, implying that an ordinary latex or oil-based paint has the same properties as true, fired enamel. More recently, in the 1960s, dessert fondue recipes have appeared, typically a caquelon of melted chocolate into which pieces of fruit or pastries are dipped. Some paints are called "enamel paints". (Some fondue restaurant chains also provide flavored batters to coat the food with before frying, but it is not traditional.). This produces tiny specks of both colours; although the eye can be tricked by grinding colors together to an extremely fine, flour-like, powder. An assortment of sauces are provided for dipping. Different enamel colours cannot be mixed to make a new colour, in the manner of paint. In Fondue Bourguignonne, small cubes of meat (normally horse meat or beef) and sometimes vegetables or seafood are skewered on the fondue fork and fried by each person at the table.

Enamel can be either transparent, opaque or opalescent (translucent), which is a variety that gains a milky opacity the longer it is fired. Fondue Chinoise is named after its relation to the Asian hot pot. The last creates delicate shades ranging from pure violet through wine-red and warm gray. As with fondue Bourguignonne, dipping sauces are served. Color in enamel is obtained by the addition of various minerals, often metal oxides cobalt, praseodymium, iron, or neodymium. In this variety of fondue, the diner dips rolled shaved beef into a simmering broth. Some techniques of enameling:. Individual portions that can be cooked using a microwave oven are also available.

According to some sources, the word enamel comes from the High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail. Modern instant fondues are surprisingly accurate renditions of the homemade product, requiring little more than to be melted in the caquelon just before serving. Enameling was a favorite technique of the Art Nouveau jewellers. In 1955, the first instant fondue was brought on the market. The bright, jewel-like colors have also made enamel a favored choice for designers of jewelry and bibelots, such as ancient beads, the fantastic eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé, enameled copper boxes of Battersea enamellers, and artists such as George Stubbs and other painters of portrait miniatures. Fondue was a perfect solution, permitting a diner to consume a half-pound of cheese in one sitting. Other practitioners include the ancient Greeks, Celts, Russians, and the Chinese. While cheese fondue is a traditionally Swiss dish, it was not common until the 1950s, when the slowing cheese industry in Switzerland needed a way to increase sales.

The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to pottery and stone objects. In French, this is commonly referred to as 'la religieuse' ("the nun"). Enamelling is an old and widely-adopted technology. Ideally, when the fondue is finished, there will be a thin crust of toasted (but not burnt) cheese in the bottom of the caquelon. The durability of enamel has given it many functional applications, including: early 20th century advertising signs, interior walls of ovens, speckleware cooking pots, exterior walls of high quality kitchen appliances, cast iron bathtubs, storage silos on farms and process equipment such as chemical reactors and tanks for the chemical and pharmaceutical process industries. In a perfect cheese fondue, the mixture is held at a temperature low enough to prevent burning, but hot enough to keep the fondue smooth and liquid. Disadvantages are its tendency to crack or shatter when the substrate is stressed or bent. Well-known variations include:.

Vitreous enamel has many excellent properties: it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant, durable, can take on long-lasting, brilliant colors, and cannot burn. The most common recipe requires 1 dl of dry white wine per person, and 200 g of a mix of hard (such as Gruyère) and semi-hard (such as Emmental, Vacherin or raclette) cheeses. Also, an "enamel" is a decorative object, usually very small, having an enamel coating, such as a piece of champlevé or cloisonné. Cubed crusty bread is dipped using a fondue fork. Vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals. A small amount of corn starch or flour is added to prevent separation, often diluted in kirsch. It is often applied in a paste form and may be transparent or opaque when fired. They are all cooked in a caquelon rubbed with a cut garlic clove.

The powder melts and flows to harden as a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. Many varieties of cheese fondue exist, each with a unique name and different blend of cheeses, wine and seasoning, depending on where it is made. In a discussion of art technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. In some cheese fondues, potatoes or fruit are served instead of bread. Counter enameling, not strictly a technique, but a necessary step in many techniques, is to apply enamel to the back of a piece as well - sandwiching the metal - to create less tension on the glass so it does not crack. Local wines and seasonings were added and even the dry and hard bread tasted delicious after it was swirled in the creamy melted cheese. Sgrafitto, where an unfired layer of enamel is applied over a previously fired layer of enamel of a contrasting color, and then partly removed with a tool to create the design. The Swiss found that melting stale cheese made it edible.

The stencil is removed before firing, the enamel staying in a pattern, slightly raised. During winter, fresh food became scarce. Stenciling, where a stencil is placed over the work and the powdered enamel is sifted over the top. In the remote and isolated mountain villages in the Swiss Alps people had to rely upon locally made food. A 3D type of enameling where a sculptural form is completely or partly enameled. Cheese fondue was invented out of necessity. Ronde bosse, French for "round bump". .

It has a stained-glass like appearance. If the bread or fruit is lost in the cheese, it is tradition for that person to buy a round of drinks or to be punished in another way. Plique-à-jour, French for "braid letting in daylight" where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to champlevé, but with no backing, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. Some people consider it rude to allow one's lips or tongue to touch the fondue fork, and with meat fondues one should use a dinner fork to remove the meat from the dipping utensil. It is a form of Grisaille. As with other communal dishes, fondue has etiquette standards ranging from practical to amusing. Limoges, named after the town in France where it was invented, is the technique of "painting" with an especial enamel called "blanc de limoges" over a dark enamelled surface to form a detailed picture, often human figure. Though cheese fondues are perhaps the best known kind, there are several other possibilities for the contents of the pot and what is used for dipping—recipes are not entirely fixed and vary depending on the cook.

Grisaille, French term meaning "greying", where dark, often blue or black background is applied, then limoges or opalescent (translucent) enamel is applied on top, building up designs in a monochrome gradient, paler as the thickness of the layer of light color increases. The term "fondue" comes from the French "fondre" ("to melt"), referring to the fact that the contents of the pot are kept in a liquid state so that diners can use forks to dip into the sauce. Cloisonné, French for "cell", where thin copper, silver or gold wires form walls which separate different areas. Fondue refers to several French Swiss communal dishes shared at the table in an earthenware pot ("caquelon") over a small burner ("réchaud"). Champlevé, French for "raised field", where enamel is fired around raised fields of metal, leaving the metal exposed. Fonduta: is prepared in the French-minority region of Aosta valley in Italy, and employs fontina, milk, eggs, and truffles. The surface of the metal is decorated with a low relief design which can be seen through translucent and transparent enamels. Italian Fondues: