“It’s one of my absolute favorite dishes. But be careful, cheese fondue is not just cheese fondue,” says Christoph Göbel. “There are very big regional differences. And a real Swiss cheese fondue has nothing to do with what you buy in the supermarket.” Munich’s district administrator should know, because he is the only district administrator in Germany with Swiss citizenship – his great-grandfather Willem Jan Holsboer, for example, once built the Schatzalp sanatorium, which later made it famous in Thomas Mann’s novel “Magic Mountain”. Another branch of the family comes from Lucerne on Lake Lucerne.
“So I’m Swiss through and through,” says the 48-year-old, who of course also has German citizenship. As such, the Christsoziale maintains a very special relationship with cheese fondue, this special national dish of the country. At the Göbel in Gräfelfing, it is always served two days before New Year’s Eve as the owner’s own creation, of course only with ingredients from Switzerland: Gryère, Freiburger and Vaccharin in equal parts, plus some Appenzeller cheese. “All types of cheese must be recent,” explains the amateur chef. “A special level, a bit older, you don’t get that very often.”
The cheese is finely grated, set in nutmeg, black pepper and garlic, with some Chasselas, a white wine and some kirsch – the real Rigi. Then he has to soak for 24 hours. The mass is then bound with cornstarch and stirred into the Chaquelon, the pot for preparation, and slowly heated while stirring constantly. It’s not allowed to cook. “In my opinion, a sourdough bread made from rye flour goes best with the cheese fondue,” enthuses Göbel. And to drink, of course, there is a Chasselas that matures on the slopes between Neuchâtel and Montreux.
On New Year’s Eve, the Göbels also serve fondue, albeit a different variant: a Mongolian hot pot from the home of his wife Ochmaa Göbel.