The Matterhorn’s Traditional Moitié-Moitié Fondue Recipe

Fondue photo credit: Sarah Fritsche

A pot of bubbling hot cheese, bread for dipping –– fondue is one of those foods that’s incredibly easy to fall in love with. Just ask Natalie Horwath. While living abroad in Switzerland, the San Francisco Bay Area pastry chef found herself drawn to the lively environment of the fondue restaurants she frequented, as well as the simplicity of the meal. “It just became my favorite thing,” says Horwath. Horwath has worked at some of the Bay Area’s most beloved European-inspired bakeries (20th Century Cafe and Kantine), as well as running her own Swiss-influenced pastry shop, Berner Rosen Baking. In Switzerland, she also worked at a couple of bakeries in Geneva, which focused on bread-making. 

The pastry chef became so smitten with the whole concept of fondue that upon returning to the Bay Area, Horwath started hosting fondue pop-ups at Stow Lake Boathouse in Golden Gate Park to see how people would receive her traditional style of Swiss fondue. She sold out each time.

When The Matterhorn, a decades-old San Francisco fondue institution, went on the market in 2018, taking it over was a no-brainer: “[It’s] as Swiss as it can get; so authentic to what you’d find there.”

So, what are the essentials for making a killer Swiss-inspired fondue at home? I asked the melted cheese maven to share her secrets.

To get the balance right for fondue, says Horwath, it's really about the wine, cheese, cornstarch combination.

The wine

For the wine, Horwath says using an acidic white, such as Domaine de Pajot’s Côtes de Gascogne Blanc “Les Quatre Cépages,”  a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Colombard, helps the cheese blend and stay together during the cooking and eating process. She also adds a splash of kirsch from Oregon’s Clear Creek Distillery at the end of cooking to bring all the flavors together.

The cheese

Horwath uses 2 parts cheese to 1 part wine, allotting 200 grams of cheese per person. For her favorite type of fondue, the Moitié-Moitié, which essentially means half-and-half, Horwath uses a blend of two different cow’s milk cheeses, a 12-month aged Le Gruyère AOP (appellation d'origine protégée) Surchoix and Vacherin Fribourgeois. (See recipe.)

The Vacherin is an excellent melting that the pastry chef believes is crucial for preventing the fondue from breaking. “That cheese is like a miracle cheese,” says Horwath.

For other fondues, she’ll use other Swiss cow’s milk cheeses like Emmental and Appenzeller, as well as Comté (France’s answer to Gruyère). For something a bit more local, Horwath also likes Holey Cow, a Swiss-style cow’s milk cheese from Central Coast Creamery.

The cornstarch

For every 200 grams of shredded cheese, Horwath adds 1 tablespoon cornstarch and tosses until coated. Rapunzel Cornstarch, an Austrian brand that is widely available here in the United States, is her go-to. 

Bringing it all together

Another key to making sure the fondue doesn’t break is to get the wine simmering, then adding the cheese in portions, stirring to fully incorporate in between each addition.

Fondue photo credit: Sarah Fritsche

Going for a dip

Horwath likes to keep things simple when it comes to dippers for her fondue. Bite-size chunks of house-baked sourdough bread, maybe some boiled fingerling potatoes, and pickled seasonal vegetables to help cut the richness. That’s pretty much it. According to Horwath, too many add-ons and it wouldn’t be Swiss.

Special equipment

For the true fondue experience, and to keep the cheese nice and melty as you dip away, you really do need a fondue set of some sort. Horwath’s basic set-up includes a medium-size, well-seasoned cast-iron or glazed ceramic pot, a fondue burner, burner insert, burner gel, and forks for dipping. For sourcing equipment, she’s a fan of Esther’s European Imports.

Let the expert help

If you can’t be bothered to grate your own cheese, Horwath sells fondue kits for $45, which include a loaf of her fresh-baked sourdough bread, a bottle of white wine, and shredded cheese tossed with organic cornstarch. 

Parting advice

One final bit of advice from Horwath, when the fondue is ready to serve, don’t dawdle: “Once it's ready to be eaten, it needs to be eaten.” 

Photo by angela pham on Unsplash

The Matterhorn’s Traditional Moitié-Moitié Fondue

Serves 2

Ingredients

200 grams shredded Gruyère cheese (about 7 ounces)

200 grams shredded Vacherin Fribourgeois (about 7 ounces)  

2 tablespoons organic cornstarch

1 clove garlic

200 milliliters dry white wine (about 7 ounces) 

10 milliliters Kirsch liqueur (about 2 teaspoons)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Country bread, cut or torn into bite-size pieces, for serving

Instructions: In a medium bowl, toss the cheese with the cornstarch. Peel and cut the garlic in half crosswise. Rub the inside of a medium ceramic or cast-iron with garlic, then discard the clove.

Pour the wine into the pot and cook over medium heat until bubbles start to form on the sides of the pot. Do not let boil. Add the shredded cheese in 3 additions, stirring until each addition is completely melted before adding the next.

When the cheese is fully incorporated and the fondue is thick and creamy, let the mixture start to boil and add the kirsch. Mix until well-blended; season with salt and pepper.

Place the pot over a lit fondue burner and serve immediately with pieces of bread for dipping. Stir the pot as needed to keep the cheese nice and smooth.