At Sabbathday Lake, near Poland Spring, Maine, the small Shaker religious community of true believers is known for living a simple life, which includes simple meals three times a day. They eat according to the motto "Shaker your plate" - which means polishing off every last bit and crumb.
There is no Shaker restaurant in Sabbathday Lake, but the people who continue to live by the strict and austere standards of Shaker life do offer a wondrous culinary experience to travelers: their herbs. They have been growing herbs on their 1,700-acre farm since they settled here in the late 18th century, and if you visit them, you can take a walking tour of the vast formal herb gardens and the building where they package herbs for their mail-order business.Shaker herbs are grown for medicinal as well as culinary purposes, and they are the basis for such marvelously named teas as Queen of the Meadow, Marshmallow Root and Pippsessewa. The Shakers also make rose water for flavoring foods, as well as Christmas fruitcake, stuffed dates and potpourri from a formula devised in 1858 by Eldress Hester Ann Adams.
In addition to seeing how the herbs are grown and packed (in lovely little tins that make great gifts), visitors to the United Society of Shakers community can tour buildings as early as the 1794 Meetinghouse, the Spin House (1816) and the Sisters' Shop (1821). Inside the sturdy edifices are collections of Shaker furniture and crafts that, like the cooking, are a celebration of clarity.
It is an inspiring sight to see; and one good way to remember it is to stop in the museum shop (open April through December) and buy a copy of the book "Shaker Your Plate," which was written by Sister Frances A. Carr. In her introduction to the book, Sister Carr describes Shaker cooking as "plain, wholesome food." She writes, "This book is not intended for the sophisticated palate, nor for the gourmet. It is not meant for those who enjoy eating in expensive restaurants."
The recipes in "Shaker Your Plate" are ones that have been used at Sabbathday Lake for decades. Until Sister Carr put her book together, many of them had never been written down; they were like any family's favorite recipes - the things she and her fellow Shakers liked to eat and serve to friends. There are wonderful breads, including Sister Marie's whole-wheat bread with molasses and herb-cheese rolls made with parsley, oregano and basil; there are scrumptious spice cakes and jumble cookies; and there is a recipe for roast chicken that is the simplest, and possibly the best, you will ever taste.
You can use any tarragon to season this chicken; but if you use genuine Shaker herbs - which are somehow twice as flavorful as any other - it transcends its ingredients.
Now available! Nearly 200 of the most-requested recipes from this column, all in one book, "A Taste of America." It includes Jane and Michael Stern's favorite restaurants, as well as photos from their coast-to-coast eating adventures. Available in paperback, it can be ordered by sending $9.95 plus $1 for postage and handling to Taste of America, in care of the Deseret News, P.O. Box 419150, Kansas City, MO 64141.1990, Jane and Michael Stern (Universal Press Syndicate)
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Recipe:
Shaker Tarragon Chicken
One 2 1/2- to 3-pound frying chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Wash chicken and thoroughly pat dry. Rub salt inside and out. Rub tarragon inside and out.
Bake chicken 2 to 2 1/2 hours, depending on size. Baste occasionally with pan drippings. (Use drippings, if desired, to make gravy when chicken is done.)
Serves 2 to 3.