Fondue

Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue (Moitié-Moitié)

A traditional Swiss communal dish of Gruyère and Emmental melted with white wine and kirsch in a caquelon, served with crusty bread for dipping.

Prep

15 min

Cook

20 min

Total

35 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •200 g (7 oz) Gruyère AOP, rind removed, coarsely grated
• •200 g (7 oz) Emmental AOP, coarsely grated
• •1 small clove garlic, halved, for rubbing the pot
• •200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) dry white wine, a crisp Swiss Fendant or French Chablis; do not use sweet wine
• •1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), mixed with 2 tbsp kirsch
• •2 tbsp kirsch, Swiss cherry brandy, or omit and use a splash more wine
• •1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• •1 pinch white pepper, freshly ground, to taste
• •1 small baguette stale crusty bread, day-old works best; cut into ~2.5 cm / 1 in cubes
• •1 as needed (as needed) lemon juice, a few drops, to season the wine

Steps

1. 1 Rub the inside of a heavy ceramic caquelon (or enameled cast-iron pot) thoroughly with the cut clove of garlic; discard the garlic.
2. 2 Add the white wine and a few drops of lemon juice to the pot. Warm gently over medium-low heat — do not let it boil hard; a few small bubbles at the edge is right.
3. 3 While the wine warms, toss the grated Gruyère and Emmental together in a bowl with the cornflour so every shred is lightly coated (this prevents stringiness and helps the fondue bind).
4. 4 Add the cheese to the wine a handful at a time, stirring in a slow figure-of-eight with a wooden spoon. Let each handful melt fully before adding the next.
5. 5 When the cheese is smooth and creamy, stir in the kirsch (mixed with the cornflour) and season with nutmeg and white pepper. Keep the heat very low so the fondue just simmers — a vigorous boil will cause it to split, in which case the traditional rescue is to stir in 1 tsp cornflour mixed with cold wine.
6. 6 Transfer the caquelon to a rechaud with a lit burner or tea light underneath to keep the fondue at a gentle, lazy simmer — not bubbling.
7. 7 Each diner spears a bread cube on a long fondue fork, swirls it through the melted cheese, and eats immediately. Tradition: the same diner drinks a small glass of kirsch or cold white wine if their cube falls into the pot.
8. 8 When the cheese is nearly finished, increase the heat just enough to let a golden crust form on the bottom of the caquelon (called la religieuse — 'the nun'); scrape it up and share it as the prized final bite.