In the Field: Feliciana’s Best Creamery

Feliciana’s Best Creamery
Slaughter, Louisiana

There’s a bend in the road in East Feliciana Parish that feels like a page from another era. Turn off the highway onto Dave Brian Lane, and you’re greeted by a handmade “Children at Play” sign and a gravel drive that leads you into the heart of Feliciana’s Best Creamery -  a place where the land, the cows, and the people all seem to move to the same steady rhythm.

The Brian family has worked this land for more than a century. Their homes are scattered across the property, close enough to share coffee but far enough to hear the wind. The scent of hay and sweet feed lingers in the air, and in the barn, the story unfolds in slow motion.

Mike Brian sits beside his father Vernon, the two of them applying labels by hand to blank milk jugs - no machines, no rush. “We do it all ourselves,” Mike says. “Keeps us close to the product. To the people.”

This isn’t nostalgia. It’s a necessity, born from grit and stubborn pride. Vernon started the dairy in 1964, and Mike, armed with a Dairy Science degree from LSU, returned in the ’90s to take the reins. But when the bottom dropped out in 2008, Mike didn’t just weather the storm. He shut it all down.

Then, with just nine cows and a new vision, he built it back up - slower, smaller, smarter. He brought every part of the process home: milking, pasteurizing, bottling. No homogenization, no shortcuts. Just whole milk the way it used to taste - rich, creamy, and kissed with the flavor of the pastures.

“The cream rises to the top,” Mike says, “and that’s where the good stuff is.”

Their cows, a contented herd of about sixty, graze daily, never confined, never treated with hormones or antibiotics. Some have been producing for more than a decade, outliving the average by years. “It’s less stressful for them,” Mike says, then pauses. “And they give back.”

There’s no sermon here. Mike deflects credit like a man who’s too busy doing the work to talk about it. “Most farmers are just trying to do right,” he shrugs. “Right by the animals, the land, and the folks they feed.”

Then came 2020. While the world slowed, the farm nearly stopped. First it was the supply issues and sluggish sales brought by COVID. Then Mike fell from a tractor, breaking his back. He spent months in a wheelchair. But the community rallied. His wife stepped into the daily operations. The only other dairy farmer in the parish moved his cows to the Brian property to help. “It was hard,” Mike says plainly. “But we kept going.”

Today, the creamery produces more than 300 gallons a day. Their milk (whole, 2%, skim, chocolate) along with heavy cream, butter, and a Creole cream cheese made in collaboration with a neighbor, can be found at the Red Stick Farmers Market and local stores across the region. If you happen to be nearby, you can swing by the barn and grab a bottle straight from the self-serve fridge - no credit cards, no Apple Pay, just an old-school cash box and the honor system at work

Mike’s two children come home on breaks to help out, though he says they’re charting their own paths. Vernon, now 84, still shows up most days. “As long as he wants to be here,” Mike says, “he’s got a place.”

It’s the kind of place you leave reluctantly, with a cooler full of milk and the quiet conviction that somewhere, not far from here, the old ways still work and are very much alive.

If you’re at the Red Stick Farmers Market on Main Street on a Saturday morning, you’ll probably spot Mike behind the table. Be sure to pick up some of his rich, fresh heavy cream — it’s the key ingredient in one of our favorite summertime desserts, shared below.

- Russell & Sally

Learn more about Feliciana’s Best:
Feliciana’s Best Creamery website
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Chocolate Semifreddo

Summer in the South comes with heat that doesn’t quit, which is why frozen desserts are always a welcome treat. This one keeps it simple — no oven required, just cool, creamy comfort.

Yields 8

1 cup dark chocolate, melted

¼ tsp kosher salt

2 eggs

¼ cup white granulated sugar

1 cup Feliciana’s Best heavy whipping cream

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup pistachios whole

2 tbsp pistachios, chopped to dust in a blender or food processor

Grease a small 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with a layer of cling, film leaving enough hanging over the sides to wrap over the top of the pan.

Heat the dark chocolate in a small pan until melted. Or heat it in a microwave until melted in 45 second increments, stirring in between each to prevent scorching. Stir salt into chocolate.

In a stand mixer on medium with the whisk attachment, whisk eggs and sugar together for approximately 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chocolate until thoroughly mixed.

Again, in a stand mixer on medium with the whisk attachment, whisk the heavy cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a large bowl. With a spatula, fold the whole pistachios and the chocolate mixture into the whipped cream, a third at a time, being careful not to deflate the whipped cream. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan, cover it with the overhanging cling film and freeze the semifreddo overnight. Unwrap the cling film and lift the semifreddo from the loaf pan. Flip it upside down on your serving platter. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of finely chopped pistachios. Slice like bread and serve immediately. Store leftovers in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.