32
"The pioneer, on a heavy salt -meat diet with scant sugar supply and spices
at a prohibitive price, craved these green herbs which made his few root
vegetables more palatable. Herbs were never a luxury; they belonged to the
diet of both the rich and poor/' 22
The following are some of the Shakers' recommendations oh the use
of herbs, as collected in Piercy's "Shaker Cook Book":
"Rosemary. Often combined with chives, parsley or thyme.
Especially good used in dressing for fowl and veal, excellent
for flavoring drinks. (Use with parsley on spinach)
Basil, Good in soups, salads, fruit drinks, cheeses and egg
dishes. Put in boiled vegetables; chop it fine and sprinkle
over chops just before serving. Use with beans,
Marjoram. Used in stews and soups and in scalloped potatoes
or with cold slaw. Especially good in turkey dressing. Use
with cabbage.
. Essential in soups and sauces; especially good in
hot fish sauce. Minced fine, sprinkle over any hot dish of
meat, fish or vegetables."
Indeed, Miss Piercy claims that "probably the Shakers* great contri-
bution to American cookery was their knowledge of herbs and their use in
cooking" and almost every one of their recipes contains one or more herbs.
Their herbs were so regular in quality that they received orders from England
and the European continent. They built large herb houses of New Lebanon,
Harvard, Canterbury and Sabbath Day Lake. The "physics" garden at New
Lebanon at one time covered over 50 acres with nearly 200 varieties of

22. Ibid.