Plastic cheese punk

Alex James has been causing a bit of a stir. The erstwhile Blur bassist turned artisan cheese enthusiast, has decided to turn his talents to some truly unholy creations, aka the Alex James Presents range from Asda. 

This selection of yummy concoctions offers discerning diners everything from Cheddar & Ketchup to Cheddar & Salad Cream slices, via Cheddar Tikka Masala and a few other more traditional options. The man who once famously declared that "... my 40s are about food" has decided that, actually, middle age is about releasing bizarre flavour mash-ups in sliced, processed, plasticky form. 

Forget his feted, creamy Blue Monday or the carefully thought-out Little Wallop (two previous cheeses documented in guardian.co.uk's cheese diaries, these creations have united food journalists, industry folk and bloggers in horror. 

 James responded to the criticism through his column in the Sun: "One critic called my ketchup-flavour cheese 'an abomination' without even tasting it - just like the crusty establishment figures reacted to punk rock when it came out. There is so much snobbery about food. 

I love everyday cheese and I love posh cheese. There's room for everything." It remains to be seen if the dairy world's answer to The Stooges will make an appearance at the forthcoming Alex James presents Harvest festival on his farm in September, an event that promises figures from the food and music worlds alike, from Yotam Ottolenghi to K T Tunstall, but it feels unlikely. 

Harvest also overlaps with the British Cheese Awards taking place just down the road and organised by Alex's former cheese mentor, Julia Harbutt, but it seems unlikely that any genuine cheese enthusiasts will find it hard to decide between them.