Ashcombe

Made by David Jowett in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, Ashcombe is a rich yet subtle cheese. The mild and mushroomy rind gives way to a golden paste shot through with a line of wood ash. The flavors are milky and mild and the texture is bouncy, buttery and semi-firm. The addition of ash to this style of cheese in France was originally devised as a means of warding off flies and preventing a skin forming on the cheese made from the morning milk, so that more milk could be added in the evening.