Fondue refers to several French Swiss communal dishes shared at the table in an earthenware pot (caquelon) over a small burner (réchaud). 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. 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.