Aisy Cendre

Aisy Cendré is a small, ash-ripened cow's milk cheese from the village of Aisy-Bréy in the Pays de Bray, on the edge of Normandy. Its name literally means "ashed Aisy", and the rind is a direct reference to an old farmhouse trick: in the days before proper cellars, fresh cheeses were buried in wood ash to keep flies off the surface and slow down the whey draining. Today the ash is reapplied in modern dairies to recreate that protective, slightly alkaline crust. Underneath, the paste is dense, pale ivory and faintly chalky near the rind, softening to a creamy center as the cheese ripens for 4 to 6 weeks.

Flavour is pungent and woodsy on the rind — a touch smoky, a touch of mushroom — with a clean, lactic, almost yogurt-like tang in the paste. Aisy Cendré is the sort of cheese that anchors a Norman cheese board alongside a wedge of Pont-l’Évêque and a small Camembert. It is also excellent melted on a slice of country bread or crumbled over a green salad with walnuts.