Fresh goats cheese (chèvre in French) is one of the oldest know dairy products to be made. It is  made  by allowing goat’s milk to curdle naturally, then draining and pressing the curds.  Ash is used for both aesthetic reasons but also to preserve the cheese. The ash used is a finely powdered, food-grade component and not the ash from your barbecue. You can easily substitute with either plain goats cheese or Persian feta as the are both wonderfully creamy, at a pinch you can use plain feta that has been crumbled. This salad would also work well with any blue cheese.