Today we're heading to the heart of the Alps — to Switzerland! We're making two iconic dishes that warm you in the mountains and bring people together at one table: legendary cheese fondue and hearty Bernese platter with smoked meats.
🧀 Fondue Moitié-Moitié
Classic Swiss cheese fondue is a thick, stretchy mass of melted cheese with the aroma of white wine and garlic. Served in a special ceramic pot over a burner, eaten by dipping bread cubes on long forks.
Ingredients:
• Gruyère — 200 g
• Vacherin Fribourgeois (or fontina) — 200 g
• Dry white wine (preferably Swiss Fendant or any dry) — 300 ml
• Garlic — 1 large clove
• Cornstarch — 2 tsp
• Kirsch (cherry brandy) — 2 tbsp
• Ground nutmeg — pinch
• Freshly ground black pepper — to taste
• White bread (baguette or country-style) — 400 g
Preparation:
Step 1. Preparing ingredients
Grate both cheeses on a coarse grater (4-5 mm holes). Important: cheese should be at room temperature — take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before starting. Cut the garlic clove in half. Cut the bread into cubes with 2.5-3 cm sides, leaving at least one crust on each piece — that way the bread won't slip off the fork. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with kirsch until smooth — this mixture will prevent the fondue from separating.
Step 2. Preparing the pot
Take a special fondue pot (caquelon) or a thick-walled ceramic/cast iron pot with 1-1.5 liter capacity. Vigorously rub the inside with the cut garlic — don't spare the effort, the garlic should leave juice on the walls. Leave the garlic in the pot.
Step 3. Heating the wine
Pour white wine into the prepared pot and place over medium heat. Heat until the first small bubbles appear around the edges (temperature about 70-75°C) — this will take 3-4 minutes. The wine should not boil! Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon.
Step 4. Adding cheese
Reduce heat to minimum. Start adding grated cheese in small portions (about a handful at a time), constantly stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk in figure-eight motions. Each portion must completely melt before you add the next — this is critically important! The process will take 8-10 minutes. The mass should become uniform, smooth, without lumps, with a light gloss on the surface.
Step 5. Thickening
Pour in the starch-kirsch mixture, stirring intensively. Continue cooking over minimum heat for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. The fondue will thicken and become creamy — when you lift the spoon, the mixture should flow down in a slow, wide ribbon. Add a pinch of nutmeg and freshly ground pepper.
Step 6. Final consistency check
Do a test: dip a bread cube in the fondue and lift — the cheese should stretch in a thick thread, but not be rubbery. If the mass is too thick, add 2-3 tablespoons of warmed wine and stir. If too thin — dissolve another half teaspoon of starch in a spoonful of kirsch and mix in.
Step 7. Serving
Transfer the pot to a special fondue burner (or use a tabletop tea light that gives minimal heat). The fondue should stay hot but not boil — maintaining temperature around 60-65°C. Serve immediately with bread cubes, long fondue forks, and glasses of white wine of the same brand you used in cooking. Traditionally, fondue is served with pickled gherkins and pearl onions.
💡 Fact: In Switzerland there's a tradition: if you drop bread in the fondue, by old custom you must kiss your neighbor on the left or buy the next bottle of wine. And the golden crust that forms on the bottom (la religieuse — 'the nun') is considered a delicacy and is shared among all diners.
🥓 Berner Platte (Bernese Platter)
Monumental meat dish from the canton of Bern — a generous composition of various smoked and boiled meats, sauerkraut, and boiled potatoes. Looks like a festive abundance on a large platter, combining salty, smoky, and sour flavors.
Ingredients:
• Smoked pork shank (Eisbein) — 500 g
• Smoked pork ribs — 400 g
• Bacon (thick strips) — 200 g
• Sausages (Bratwurst or quality beef) — 4 pieces
• Pork tongue (optional, traditional component) — 300 g
• Sauerkraut — 600 g
• Juniper berries — 6-8 pieces
• Potatoes (boiling varieties) — 800 g
• Yellow onion — 1 large head
• Carrot — 1 medium
• Bay leaf — 2 pieces
• Black peppercorns — 8-10 pieces
• Butter — 30 g
• Fresh parsley — small bunch
• Grainy mustard (for serving) — to taste
Preparation:
Step 1. Preparing and soaking meat
Soak the smoked shank and ribs in cold water for 2-3 hours (or overnight), changing the water every hour — this will remove excess salt. If using tongue, rinse it thoroughly. Drain the water, rinse the meat under cold running water. Peel the onion and carrot: cut onion into 4 parts, carrot into 1 cm thick rounds.
Step 2. Cooking the main meat
In a large pot (minimum 5 liter capacity) place the shank, ribs, and tongue (if using). Cover with cold water so it covers the meat by 3-4 cm. Add onion, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns, and 3-4 juniper berries (lightly crush them with the flat side of a knife). Bring to a boil over high heat, then skim off the foam with a slotted spoon — there will be a lot, skim thoroughly. Reduce heat to minimum so the water barely trembles (doesn't boil!). Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 2.5-3 hours. The meat is ready when it's easily pierced with a fork and the shank starts separating from the bone.
Step 3. Cooking sauerkraut
40 minutes before the meat is done, work on the cabbage. If the cabbage is very sour, rinse it in cold water and squeeze lightly. In a deep skillet or sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the cabbage, add the remaining juniper berries (crushed). Pour in 100-150 ml of broth from the pot with the meat. Braise covered for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage should become soft but retain texture, color — light golden, taste — balanced between sour and slightly sweet.
Step 4. Cooking potatoes
Wash the potatoes thoroughly with a brush, but don't peel — traditionally Berner Platte is served with potatoes in their jackets. In a separate pot, cover potatoes with cold salted water (1 tsp salt per liter), bring to a boil and cook 20-25 minutes depending on size. Check doneness with a thin knife — it should easily enter the center of the tuber. Drain the water, let the potatoes sit 2-3 minutes under the lid for even steaming.
Step 5. Preparing sausages and bacon
15 minutes before serving, add sausages to the pot with the meat — they should warm in the broth for 10-12 minutes (don't cook them longer or they'll burst). In a separate skillet, fry bacon strips over medium heat until lightly golden with crispy edges — about 4-5 minutes per side. Place on paper towels.
Step 6. Slicing and final assembly
Remove all meat from the broth. Break down the shank into large pieces, separating meat from bone (discard the bone or save for broth). Cut the ribs into portions (2-3 bones each). If you cooked tongue — remove the skin (it comes off easily after cooking) and slice diagonally into 5-7 mm thick pieces. Leave sausages whole. Finely chop the parsley.
Step 7. Serving on a large platter
On a very large serving platter (or use a wooden board) create a composition: in the center place a mound of braised sauerkraut. Around it arrange all types of meat — shank, ribs, tongue, sausages, bacon. On one side place the potatoes in their jackets. Drizzle the meat with a few spoonfuls of hot broth for shine. Generously sprinkle everything with chopped parsley. Serve immediately while everything is hot, with grainy mustard, horseradish, and glasses of Swiss white wine or beer.
💡 Fact: Berner Platte appeared in 1798 after the victory of Bernese troops over the French. According to legend, after the battle soldiers gathered all the provisions they had — smoked meat, cabbage, potatoes — and cooked this hearty dish. Since then it has become a symbol of the canton of Bern and is served at all important celebrations.