Cheese guru and deli-owner Matt Coxon from Saltaire has been asked to help pick the winner of this year’s World Cheese Awards held next week.

Matt has run Cheese and Chutney on Bingley Road for four years and as a member of the Guild of Fine Foods has been chosen as one of the judges to sample 2,781 cheeses at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham on November 28.

“It will be fantastic – I’ll be tasting a table of 50 cheeses, none of them named or identified in any way and have to give my opinions along with all the other judges who come from all over the world.

“Last year’s grand champion was Ossau-Iraty, a sheep’s milk cheese from the Basque region in France, but it could be anything. One entry that year was Cheese-strings!” As in connosieur wine-tasting, the judges are allowed to spit out cheeses they loathe – or simply to eat their body weight in those they love.

Blur bassist turned cheesemaker Alex James was a judge last year, and Mr Coxon now stocks Mr James’ Blue Monday veined cheese.

“I’ve been to the show before, but his is my first time as a judge,” said Matt, who turned his back on a career in audio-visual technology to follow his passion for food.

“It was a turning point in my life, I’ve always loved food and thought, “right, I’m going to open a delicatessen.”

“I did some courses on cheese and charcuterie and that was it.”

He found a suitable shop on Saltaire’s most thriving street and is now well-established having been commended in last year’s national Deli Of The Year Awards.

He said: “My range of food from all over, but I get most of my meats and cheese locally from Yorkshire.”And now is his busiest time of year with orders piling up for Christmas.

“And we’ve already taken some orders for our own Christmas Cheese Cake, made out of layered whole cheeses. Pardon the joke, but people do go crackers for cheese at Christmas!”