Ask the Cheesemonger Emiliano Lee is a veteran cheesemonger who
recently moved to California to be the artisan market manager
for Farmshop in Santa Monica; he is noted for championing an
appreciation of domestic cheeses. Q: I've noticed some cheeses
are coated in ash. What is the ash, and why do producers do
this? A: The ash you see is a food-grade (sterile) charcoal
ground to powder. Charcoal? Yuck, right? Au contraire. It serves
a number of purposes and has a long-standing tradition of
use—particularly in a number of beloved cheeses from France.
Morbier cheese, for example, was originally developed with a
thin line of ash running horizontally through its middle because
it served as a kind of bug repellent during cheesemaking. Back
in the 19th century, Morbier was made in two phases over the
course of 24 hours (not in one process as is done today). The
curds for the cheese were created twice daily, following each
milking. To protect the evening curds in their half-filled molds
from insects, the cheesemaker d