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ENTERTAINING 202 3 culturecheesemag.com 19 CHEF'S DISH and Black Truffle, made with black truffle, roasted garlic, and gruyere. At a multi-day festival in Summerville, South Carolina, customers flocked to her booth and bought every tub of before the final day. Though she continues to introduce new flavors, West has never altered her original recipe for classic pimento cheese. Committed to quality and consistency, she makes several batches a week with the freshest available ingredients. She buys fresh poblanos and roasts them in-house for the Roasted Poblano and Monterey, and she processes jalapeños and serrano peppers on-site for the Jalapeño and Serrano and Pepper Jack flavors. Once a flavor makes its debut, to maintain consistency, there's no tweaking the recipe; likely why her customers claim hers is the only pimento cheese they' ll buy. West's brick-and-mortar restaurant, Suga's Cheese Shoppe and Café, was born out of the markets and festivals where she was in constant conversation with customers, sharing appetizer ideas and non-traditional serving styles that highlight her famous pimento cheese in imaginative ways. The menu starts with appetizers like smoked gouda mac and cheese balls made with her best- selling Smoked Gouda, and roasted poblano spinach and artichoke dip. Patrons can fill up on Angus beef burgers made with Black Truffle or a chicken Parmesan sandwich featuring both pimento cheese and mozzarella. Chef Suga also pays homage to her hometown of Philadelphia, serving a Philly cheesesteak sandwich with a Southern twist—pimento cheese, of course. The menu is not confined to savory dishes. West crafts award-winning cheesecakes with—you guessed it—pimento cheese. She makes over 10 varieties of cheesecakes with the signature spread, including Oreo, banana pudding, red velvet, and pumpkin swirl, and a decadent pimento cheese cheesecake drizzled with honey and dusted with 24-karat gold. Chef Suga insists, "Whatever you do with cheese, you can do with our pimento cheese." She suggests adding pimento cheese to a cheese board or her cupcake-sized pimento cheese cheesecakes for a unique twist. Think of the cheesecake as you would a round of brie: just add a knife and let guests dig in. "My pimento cheese cheesecakes bring such a unique flavor profile…you got the sweet, you got the savory. That's what's so important about a charcuterie board—it has to be balanced out," West says. c "Whatever you do with cheese, you can do with our pimento cheese." Discover more at www.MontiTrentini.com and follow us on social media @montitrentiniusa 2 0 1 8 - 1 9 ®