Fondue moitié-moitié recipe: Fribourg's half-and-half classic

This fondue moitié-moitié recipe comes from Fribourg, the only Swiss canton that blends two cheeses in one pot: Gruyère AOP for bite and Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP for silkiness. Keep the heat low and never let it boil, or the cheese proteins split into a grainy mess.

Fribourg sits on the border between French- and German-speaking Switzerland, and this dish mirrors that split. Gruyère AOP and Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP are made a short drive apart, under the same AOP rules that fix where the milk comes from and how long the wheels age.

The canton hosts the Swiss Cheese Awards this week, and fondue moitié-moitié is the dish locals use to show off both AOP cheeses at once. For another regional cheese tradition, see our cervelle de canut recipe from Lyon.

Two cheeses, one pot, and a flame you never let get greedy.

Ingredients

• 400g Gruyère AOP, grated
• 400g Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP, rind removed and thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 300ml (3 dl) dry white wine
• 15g potato starch (or cornstarch)
• A splash of kirsch
• Black pepper
• 500g day-old bread, cubed, for dipping

Method

1. Rub the caquelon with the cut garlic clove, then discard it. It leaves a faint background note without making the fondue taste of garlic.
2. Off the heat, toss the grated Gruyère with the potato starch. This stops the starch clumping when the wine goes in, and it is the starch that holds the melted cheese in a stable emulsion instead of letting it split.
3. Add the wine and set the pot over gentle heat. Stir in a steady figure-eight, not circles: this moves every part of the pot past the spoon, so the cheese heats evenly instead of catching on one side.
4. Once the Gruyère has melted, lower the heat and add the sliced Vacherin Fribourgeois. Keep stirring until smooth; it melts faster and softer than Gruyère, which is why it goes in second.
5. Let the fondue bubble gently at the edges, never at a rolling boil. A hard boil cooks the starch and protein too fast and breaks the emulsion, leaving a stringy, oily pot.
6. Stir in the kirsch and a grind of pepper just before serving. The alcohol lifts the aroma without tasting raw, and keeps the mixture fluid at the table.
7. Move the pot to a table burner and serve with the bread cubes on long forks, stirring in a figure-eight every few dips to keep it smooth.

What to drink, and what to do with leftovers

Pour the same dry white wine you cooked with, or a light Vaud Chasselas. Both cut through the richness without fighting the kirsch.

Leftover fondue cools into a flat disc. Cut it up and fry thin slices in a hot pan the next morning; the starch that keeps it smooth tonight lets it hold its shape once cold.

Can I skip the kirsch? Yes. A squeeze of lemon juice in the wine gives the same acidity that helps the emulsion hold, though you lose the fruity lift kirsch adds at the end.