Ashcombe, 200g

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 flavours are milky and mild and the texture is bouncy, buttery and semi-firm.

David Jowett makes his cheeses on Manor Farm in the Cotswold village of Chedworth, Gloucestershire. The farm’s mixed herd of traditional British breeds feed on pastures planted with plentiful clover and herbal leys, lending their milk an aromatic richness. The name Ashcombe combines references to Manor Farm’s surroundings and to the make of the cheese: ‘the coombes’ are the steep paddocks overlooked by the King Stone Dairy; the ‘ash’ refers to the decorative line of wood ash running through the cheese.