Rising From The Ashes

I often puzzle about how things that seem rather bizarre began – like using ashes in cheese. Who the heck discovered that? Did some prehistoric chef drop some cheese into the ash bucket and say “Wow, this is a great idea!”? Never the less, ashes have been used in cheesemaking for, well, centuries it would seem! More commonly ashes were used as a preservative. The tale that I heard was that farmers used to be taxed on the amount of milk their cattle produced.  To beat the taxman, farmers would milk the cows in the morning, make half the cheese, cover it with a coating of ashes and then when the afternoon milking was done (taxes were assessed on the afternoon milking which of course was less as a result of the morning milking 😉), the cheese would be completed. The most famous of the two-milking cheeses is one from France called Morbier. In stock this week is one from one of my favourite cheesemaker’s in Québec, Laiterie Charlevoix, who also make Charlevoix 1608 (a personal fave) called Le Cendré des Grands-Jardins which has the signature line of ashes through the middle. Excellent with a crisp, white wine and grapes as an alternative desert but also can be used as a Raclette cheese. Ashley is a goat Chèvre aged in ash. It ages from the outside in, so that the outside will get creamy while the interior remains the familiar texture of a Chèvre. Cheese rising from the ashes.....