Natural beef fondue meat

Natural beef fondue meat, sliced thin and ready for the broth. Raised without hormones or antibiotics, $57.80/kg, in packs of roughly 200 to 250 g — about $13.01 for a 225 g pack. It is the centrepiece of a Chinese fondue, and the one part of the meal you cannot improvise on the night.

What is fondue meat?

Beef sliced very thin, almost translucent, so it cooks in seconds in simmering broth. That is what separates Chinese fondue — fondue chinoise, or fondue de Pékin in Québec — from Burgundy fondue, which is cubes in hot oil. Ours is cut to the right thickness: thin enough to cook on the end of a fork, generous enough to stay tender.

Natural Québec Beef

Our cattle are raised without hormones or antibiotics on our family farm in Huntingdon, Montérégie, since 2005. In a fondue the beef is barely cooked and hidden behind nothing — it is the meal where good beef shows most plainly, and where ordinary beef gives itself away.

How much fondue meat per person?

Allow about 200 g per person for a full meal — a little more if the fondue is the only course, a little less if there are plenty of sides. Our packs run about 225 g, which works out to one pack per guest:

• 2 people — 2 packs
• 4 people — 4 packs
• 6 people — 6 packs, plus one spare for big eaters

The broth

The broth is half the meal. A good homemade Chinese fondue broth starts from beef stock, gets seasoned, and is held at a bare simmer — never a rolling boil, which toughens the meat. Plan on about 1.5 L for four and top it up with hot water as you go. Whatever is left at the end has cooked every piece of meat and vegetable of the evening: strain it and keep it, it is the best stock of the winter.

Sauces and side dishes

Three or four sauces is plenty, and half of them are built on mayonnaise:

• Garlic and herb — mayonnaise, grated garlic, parsley, lemon juice
• Mild curry — mayonnaise, curry powder, a little honey
• Cocktail — mayonnaise, ketchup, a drop of Worcestershire
• Honey mustard — Dijon, honey, a splash of vinegar

For sides: white rice or vermicelli, baby potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and bok choy to poach in the broth, and a green salad to cut through it. A baguette for the broth at the end never hurts.

Homemade fondue broth recipe

Soften 1 sliced onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves and a slice of fresh ginger in a little oil. Add 1.5 L beef stock, a carrot and a celery stick in pieces, 2 tbsp soy sauce, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme. Simmer covered for 30 minutes, strain, then pour into the fondue pot and hold at a simmer. The slices cook in 20 to 40 seconds: dip, count, eat it hot.

Fondue meat price and ordering

• Regular price: $57.80/kg — about $13.01 per pack (estimate on 225 g)
• Weight: roughly 200 to 250 g per pack · plan one pack per person
• Sold by weight: the final price at checkout reflects the pack's actual weight
• Product number: 1184175
• Sold frozen, thinly sliced
• No hormones, no antibiotics, raised in Huntingdon, Québec
• Where to buy: home delivery across Québec and Montréal by refrigerated truck, free delivery from $225. Farm pickup at 62 York Street, Huntingdon, usually ready in 24 hours.