Author Topic: Aisy Cendre  (Read 4049 times)

beechercreature

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Aisy Cendre
« on: March 15, 2012, 07:33:50 PM »
I heard about this cheese some years ago and it always interested me. Does anyone have any ideas about a recipe?

I'm still a cheesemaking noob, but I'd still like to compile some info for later on down the road.

From Wikipedia:

Aisy cendré (French: Ashen Aisy; named after Aisy-sous-Thil, a nearby town) is a French cheese made from cow milk, made by a company in Époisses, Bourgogne (Burgundy, a region in France.)
It has a washed rind, contains at least 50% fat and has an average weight of 230 grams, with a diameter of 110 mm and a height of 35 mm. Its paste has a slightly smoked aroma and ripens into a soft texture, but is typically eaten while still firm. It is refined for two weeks by scrubbing the rind and is then rolled in wood ash, giving it a greyish color. Production of Aisy cendré was 7 tonnes in 1991. Being made in Époisses, it enjoys the reputation of the town's fabrication techniques, even though its preparation is very different than the other cheeses found there.

BobbyG

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2012, 01:02:55 AM »
I ate heaps of this in France last year. From what I remember, it it similar to Epoisses, but the ash coating changes the maturation and texture. Delicious.
Rob

Tom Turophile

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2012, 07:54:49 PM »
On my trip to France in May, we had a great cheese spread on the breakfast buffet in Beaune.  Local cheesemaker Alain Hess provided most of the cheeses, including his own Aisy Cendre.  I had never seen it, so I had to get a close-up (so that I could remember it).



Ok, so the cheese is gone, but I can describe the rind texture and flavor -- slightly cinnamonny, dry, and chalky.  Very different from what I have had before.


Awesome cheesemaker Alain Hess' cheeses at breakfast; the top one had a chalky brown coating (aisy cendre') -- apparently it is an epoisse (regional specilaty, also on the right) rubbed in wood ash

iratherfly

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2012, 07:59:09 PM »
Oh wow, what fun!
I would guess, just make Epoisse and 2 weeks through, finish the wash, roll in ash and refrigerate for 1-2  more weeks.  Epoisse is a semi-lactic cow cheese, basically made like chaource but without the PC. It is washed with brine that ix mixed with Marc. (Marc is the French version of Grappa). The % of Marc v. water in the wash increases over the 2 weeks of washing. The wash regiment stops then and the cheese relaxes in cold temperature for a week or two before marketing. Ash will taper the acidity of this cheese and can lend it aromas of the burnt wood from the fire. I would guess they burn grape vine branches. It's very traditional to the cheeses of the region.

Tom Turophile

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2012, 08:55:06 PM »
And the same day I had that cheese was the first time I had heard of, and tasted, some Marc de Bourgogne.

iratherfly

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2012, 04:34:39 AM »
Makes a lot of sense, it's a staple of the region!

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2012, 11:35:22 AM »
Slightly off topic: What happens to a cheese that has some mold if you rub ash onto it?  Does it change the bio-terrain such that mold cannot grow?  Are there some desirable molds that will still grow?  I'm wondering about using that option on random cheeses.  Yup, I know that sill change the course and identity of that cheese but if I'm too busy and cheeses are molding maybe it'd be better to have an edible although "no longer true to variety" cheese.

iratherfly

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2012, 06:39:11 AM »
Actually, ash is a surface de-acidifier. It raises the pH so the surface is more neutral. That means that molds will actually grow faster on it and the cheese acidity will taper off a bit.

If you have molds like PC for example, the PC will grow through the ash and eventually cover the cheese and it will be white.

In fact, if you look at the photo on my avatar, that's a cheese that I make where PC grows through the ash.  I wash it 2 weeks later to re-expose some of the ash veins and to stop the Geo from developing.  Other examples of ash and rind are also in Sainte Maure, Humboldt Fog, Monte Enebro, Selles Sur Cher, Rouelle du Tarn, Valençay and a million others.  There are several tommes that are aged in piles of ash in France. I saw some brie that was aged in ash (a pile of ash, that it. Not lightly dusted rind) for several months. It looked a slightly worst than my worst troubles ever.   O0

beechercreature

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2012, 12:22:03 PM »
Oh wow, what fun!
I would guess, just make Epoisse and 2 weeks through, finish the wash, roll in ash and refrigerate for 1-2  more weeks.  Epoisse is a semi-lactic cow cheese, basically made like chaource but without the PC. It is washed with brine that ix mixed with Marc. (Marc is the French version of Grappa). The % of Marc v. water in the wash increases over the 2 weeks of washing. The wash regiment stops then and the cheese relaxes in cold temperature for a week or two before marketing. Ash will taper the acidity of this cheese and can lend it aromas of the burnt wood from the fire. I would guess they burn grape vine branches. It's very traditional to the cheeses of the region.

This one is still a conquest for a later day, but it sounds really fun. I'll have to steal some grape vine from my grandmother's house for the ash.

iratherfly

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Re: Aisy Cendre
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2012, 03:31:03 AM »
Or just buy cheesemaking ash... it's cheap and consistent!