Cheese experts join forces to give Blue Monday a makeover

The bassist from Blur has selected Shepherds Purse, which is based in Newsham, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, to produce his Blue Monday cheese after giving it a major makeover.

Blue Monday, traditionally handmade with 100 per cent cow’s milk, has been re-developed to a new recipe created by the musician and a team of experts at Shepherds Purse throughout the last six months to create a soft, creamy blue cheese.

Mr James said he was “absolutely delighted” with the results after he joined forces with the family-run business, which was founded in the 1980s by Judy Bell.

Originally named after his favourite New Order song, the new Blue Monday will be added to his British artisan cheese range, dubbed “Alex James Presents”.

It is set to launch officially in August at The Big Feastival, a two-day event in the Cotswolds featuring music and food which was founded by Mr James and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

The Yorkshire-based cheese-making firm is now run by Mrs Bell’s daughters, Katie and Caroline.

Caroline Bell, who is one of the company’s directors, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Alex developing the Blue Monday recipe and we believe that we have created another world-class blue cheese.”