YORKSHIRE pudding makers could soon win special food status.

It means pubs and restaurants across Huddersfield who have served up the dish for generations could be in the same league as Champagne and Parma ham producers

Yorkshire food chiefs want to stop rivals from outside the county cashing in on the famous name.

The Sunday roast favourite could win European rights, meaning they must be made within Yorkshire if they are to be labelled as such.

Three manufacturers – including the popular Aunt Bessie brand – are in talks about applying for the special recognition.

And the application has been backed by the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber, which believes a centuries-old recipe could hold the key to a successful bid.

Sarah Knapper, the group’s research and development director, said Yorkshire puddings were first named in an 18th-century recipe by food writer Hannah Glasse.

Her puddings differed from several other similar dishes, she said.

Winning special protection would benefit Yorkshire producers and boost sales, Ms Knapper claimed.

News of the bid came days after rhubarb producers in the county won similar special status.

Ms Knapper said: “It would prevent people anywhere else in the world from making it and calling it Yorkshire pudding.”

She said restaurants from elsewhere in the country offering a Sunday roast might have to refer to Yorkshire-style puddings on their menus.

But she added: “The recipe is made by so many people, that this could be a hurdle to the bid.”

The idea was welcomed by the Mayor of Kirklees, Clr Julie Stewart-Turner, who is campaigning for greater recognition of local food.

She said: “It would be very good if Yorkshire could have its own special food.

“We want to develop a food tourism project and that would be a big advantage”.

Ms Knapper said cooks from outside Yorkshire would never be stopped from calling their own creations Yorkshire puddings, but commercial producers would be.

“If people make them for themselves they can call them whatever they like,” she said.

Items so far on the British list include Cornish clotted cream, Whitstable oysters and Stilton cheese.

Newcastle Brown Ale won special status, but then shifted brewing from Tyneside to Yorkshire.