The BBC Good Food Show in Harrogate this spring was a huge success, with producers and chefs flocking from far and wide to the spa town to show off their wares and their skills.

One of our star finds was Yorkshire Dama Cheese, a company set up in June by Razan Alsous, who fled the war in Syria before setting up her cheese manufacturing business here in Yorkshire.

Ms Alsous received support for her business idea (which aimed to combine her Middle Eastern roots with the local Yorkshire produce on offer) from West Yorkshire Enterprise Agency and she now sells halloumi cheese across the region.

Halloumi is an extremely popular food in Syria, especially when it comes to breakfast, but it’s not a food that is often manufactured in the UK, despite the fact that Britain is the second largest consumer of Halloumi in the whole of Europe.

Ms Alsous uses cow’s milk from Windy Bank Farm in Liversedge and vegetarian rennet to produce the handmade, traditionally-folded cheese, and you really can taste the love and care that’s gone into the production of it.

Clearly Yorkshire Dama Cheese has spotted a (tasty) gap in the market that can be filled by their amazing cheese, and we really hope they’re successful.

We took home a chunk that cost just under £4 from the Good Food Show and had it for dinner the next day. We grilled slices of the cheese and served it alongside cous cous and roasted vegetables. The halloumi was the nicest I’d ever tasted. I haven’t exactly eaten a lot of it previously but it was salty, absolutely bursting with flavour, and had that nice squeaky quality to it that good halloumi should.

So go on, support a local business that has an amazing story behind it, and a product that, most importantly, hits 10/10 on the taste scale!

Yorkshire Dama Cheese is currently sold from Green Valley Grocery in Slaithwaite and in farm shops in the region, and they’ll also be taking samples to the likes of the BBC Good Food Show to help spread the word.

Disclaimer: While we invited as registered bloggers to the BBC Spring Good Food Show we paid for our produce from Yorkshire Halloumi and have no working relationship with them.