A Menston restaurant owner has collaborated on a food project to mark the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire.

The 1875 Indian restaurant has teamed up with the producer of artisan cheeses, Shepherds Purse, to produce a unique cheese to celebrate the Grand Depart coming to the county next year.

The cheese is in the final stages of production and has been designed to combine both Indian and French flavours. A blind-tasting session is shortly to be held with members of Deliciously Yorkshire which will determine the final flavours to be included.

Manjinder Singh Sarai said: “It has been an amazing experience working with Shepherds Purse and Judy can really recognise the flavours that work well with their fabulous cheese.

“We are pleased that we are almost there and our hard work has paid off. We are excited at the prospect of producing such a high end cheese yet with unusual and mouth-watering flavours.”

Judy Bell, chairman of Shepherds Purse added: “When Manjinder arrived with the spice combinations I was a little sceptical and unsure if some combinations would work, but the majority of them did and it is an exciting project. I look forward to seeing how the Deliciously Yorkshire members respond at their networking meeting next week.”

Both The 1875 Restaurant and Shepherds Purse are members of Deliciously Yorkshire.