Syrian halloumi from Yorkshire

There will be, as ever, well over 180 different Artisan cheeses on offer at the market and we are thrilled that Yorkshire Dama are back with us in 2024 – remember them from the last market? You may have been greeted in December by their friendly trademark – “hello you – hellou-me”?

I wanted to tell you their remarkable story – Razan Alsous came to UK from Syria in 2012 having lost everything in the conflict and settled into a new life in Yorkshire with her husband and family. Although a fully qualified pharmacist, she struggled to find work due to lack of experience working in the UK and was at a loss on how to secure a better future for her children in her new-found home.

She hit upon the idea of making her beloved ‘squeaky’ Syrian cheese using the fabulous local Yorkshire milk. With a strong background in microbiology and her husband an engineer who had supplied equipment to the pharmaceutical industries in Syria, they were well placed to understand the complexities of making cheese.

With a small grant they started their business. In 2014 were awarded a license to produce cheese and now they are sharing their wonderful Halloumi style cheese with us at Cheesewick! I know you will be as pleased as we are to see them back in our neck of the woods. www.yorkshiredamacheese.co.uk