Steen’s finds Evangeline

I’m breaking a culinary law — and definitely a health one, but who cares, because every once in a while I love a pile of cheese for lunch. Cheese. That’s it. Maybe there’s some crusty bread around, but mostly, cheese is front and center.

I love it with the occasional sweet-sticky side. Honey is magnificent on bleu cheeses, thin slices of quince paste (membrillo) make hard, nutty cheeses like manchego sing, and one of my all-time favorites is triple cream with deep brown Steen’s Cane Syrup. The combo is inspired by Chefs Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing, whose current venture, MiLA in New Orleans, features contemporary Southern cuisine. While at the Longbranch in Abita Springs (now closed), they served Chef John Folse’s Bittersweet Plantation dairy triple cream with homemade brown bread and Steen’s, the rich cane syrup from Abbeville. The soft, silky goats milk Triple Cream, named Evangeline, is gently earthy, and it loves to hook up with the slightly pungent cane syrup. Why wait for the cheese course?