This is a preview of the content in our French Food Decoder app. Get the app to:
- Read offline
- Remove ads
- Access all content
- Use the in-app Map to find sites, and add custom locations (your hotel...)
- Build a list of your own favourites
- Search the contents with full-text search functionality
- ... and more!
Aisy Cendré
cow’s milk cheese ripened in ashes
Aisy sur Armançon gave its name to this creamy cheese (although it’s actually produced by the Fromagerie Berthaut in Époisses) made with pasteurized milk and a 50% minimum fat.
For the first two weeks, the rind of the cheese is washed in salt water and a bit of marc de Bourgogne, and then the cheese is covered in wood ash, allowing it to mature anaerobically and develop a unique woody flavour.
Rolling cheese in wood ashes dates back to Napoleon’s soldiers, who discovered that it helped preserve the cheese.
Text © Dana Facaros
Image by Pierre-Yves Beaudouin