If the notion of monks sending out glossy color catalogs and selling fruitcakes, fudge and cheese seems a bit askew, an unholy alliance, it shouldn’t. There are ancient echoes in the tradition.
“Then they are truly monks when they live by the work of their hands,” decreed St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictine order.
Or, as Brother Raphael, the guest master at the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Ky., explains in more contemporary terms, “All monasteries strive to be completely self-supporting. We earn our keep, if you will.” Higher powers seem to have conspired to allow the monks to sustain themselves through culinary pursuits. At one time, the monks at Gethsemani abided by the dictum in a more literal way. The heavily wooded acreage, a haven for their contemplative lifestyle, provided abundant wood for heating. They raised animals and grew fruits and vegetables from their garden, working the fields with horse-drawn plows.
A particularly fierce windstorm ushered out the last vestiges of the era of hard physical labor. The diminished population of about 75 Benedictine monks have since undergone an “industrial revolution,” Brother Raphael says, and since the mid-1950s, their corporeal work has been fully devoted to specialty foods.
In Italy, monks are known for some rousing cordials and liqueurs and for cookies, such as trionfo di gola (triumph of the palate). The recipes are rigorously guarded secrets, passed down through successive generations. Monks have also lent their name to cappuccino, this from the brown-and-white robes of Capuchin monks. In France, it was monks who first made Chartreuse, the potent green fire water, and Benedictine, a smooth, herb-infused Cognac. Even that most celebrated Champagne, Dom Perignon, is named to honor the Benedictine monk who found a way to keep the bubbly in the brew.
Other traditions continue in monasteries and convents throughout America. Here in the Bluegrass State, Gethsemani commodities include gloriously dense, fruit-and-nut-packed fruitcakes and carefully crafted rounds of French-style Port Salut cheese, a tradition that connects the abbey to the French Trappists. The most recent addition, a wickedly rich bourbon-spiked chocolate fudge, is made from a recipe supplied by a local dentist.
Fruitcake was their first endeavor and, with 160,000 pounds sold each year, it remains the most popular item. It was created when one of the brothers, who had worked as a professional baker before joining the order, fiddled around with some wine and dried fruit that was on hand at the monastery. The resulting fruitcake was much like the ones made today. The cakes are crafted from a huge quantity of dried fruits and nuts that are soaked in wine and bourbon and bound together with the smallest possible amount of batter. After they’ve baked and cooled, the cakes accept another bourbon tipple.
Brother Christian, who heads the abbey’s cheese, fruitcake and fudge production, says that using bourbon is a neighborly tradition.
“We’re in the heart of bourbon country so we use it in our fruitcakes and fudge. And no small amount, either. You’ll know it’s there right away,” he says.
There’s no disputing the logic that advocates using local foodstuffs, particularly one as felicitous as barrel-aged bourbon. And as Brother Christian aptly notes, the monastery, a sprawling medieval-looking walled compound outside Bardstown in central Kentucky, is just a flea’s jump from some of the best bourbon distilleries around, including Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam.
More than 90 percent of the abbey’s food business is holiday-related. About 170,000 catalogs are mailed from the monastery in September. The pace picks up as orders arrive by the thousands, from all 50 states, and culminates in a crescendo of activity in November and December. But through it all, the monks seamlessly meld the sacred with the profane, working diligently, quietly and with amazing efficiency.
“When the grind gets going here, long about early December,” Brother Raphael says, “the spiritual nature of our work can get put to the test. But the work is very liberating.”
And although rising time comes early at Gethsemani, shortly after 3 a.m. when the monks begin their prayerful pursuits, the culinary activities commence just after the sun rises over the Kentucky hills. Then, for the hours spent working, they trade their flowing black-and-white robes for blue jeans and aprons.
All able-bodied monks participate in some aspect of the business, whether it be baking, boxing and mailing, pouring cheese into hoops, cutting and wrapping it or microwaving fudge–yes, the monks zap their confection in one of two microwave ovens in the candy shop.
Occasionally, one of the monks will exercise inventiveness to solve quirky problems. Brother Raphael explains that smoothing the fruitcake batter into an even layer was a tedious job when done by hand. Now, they have a handcrafted machine that does the job, one that was devised by a monk who was trained as an engineer.
Mail-order income covers 95 percent of their total expenses, with the balance covered by retreats held at the monastery.
There’s an unshakable faith in their culinary creations. Of the fruitcake, Brother Raphael says with serene confidence:
“There are too many bad ones on the market. Ours, though, tastes like what the angels might eat, if, indeed, they do eat.”
GETTING HOLIDAY FOODS FROM RELIGIOUS ORDERS
Bourbon-spiked fruitcakes and fudge aren’t the only mail-order, monk-made goodies.
Here’s a guide to some offerings, many ideal for the holidays. Most do not accept phone orders although in some cases, orders and requests for catalogs can be faxed. Otherwise, everything is handled by mail. Unless otherwise noted, prices include postage and handling within the contiguous 48 states. Items listed here are only a sampling of what is offered.
Gethsemani Farms, Trappist, Ky., 40051, the cost for a 2 1/2-pound fruitcake is $19.95; cheese prices begin at $13.50 for four 6-ounce wedges; fudge is $9.75 a pound. Items are available individually or in gift packs. Fax orders to 502-549-4124.
In Utah, the Holy Trinity Abbey makes satiny-smooth creamed honey spreads flavored with such things as maple, raspberry, brandy and lemon. The spreads are packed in 8-ounce containers. Prices begin at $12.75 for four containers. Write to the abbey at 1250 South 9500 East, Huntsville, Utah, 84317 for a complete listing.
At Our Lady of Guadalupe,in Lafayette, Ore., the monks make biscotti cookies, ginger date nut cakes, fruitcakes, Tillamook cheese and flavored coffees. Prices begin at $12.50 for coffee; a 3-pound cake is $21.50. There is an additional shipping charge. For a catalog, call 800-294-0105, write to Box 97, Lafayette, Ore., 97127, or fax 503-852-7748.
The brothers at St. Benedict’s, in Snowmass, Colo., offer cookies in such delectable varieties as maple pecan,apricot filbert and orange almond butter. A 1 1/2 pound tin sells for $14.50 plus postage; a large tin is $21.50. Write to 1012 Monastery Rd., Snowmass, Colo., 81654.
Monks don’t have exclusive rights to food production within the religious orders. Some congregations of Trappestine nuns make candy.
In Dubuque, Iowa, at Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey, nuns make caramels, including vanilla, honey and chocolate flavors, as well as green mints. They also offer blocks of bulk caramel, great for candymaking. Prices begin at $8.25 for mints; caramels are $9.90 for a 1 1/2-pound gift box. Write to Trappestine Creamy Caramels, 8325 Abbey Hill, Dubuque, Iowa, 52003, or fax 319-582-5511.
The sisters at Mt. St. Mary’s in Wrentham, Mass., make penuche, fudge and butter nut munch, with prices starting at $10.40 for a pound of chocolate nut fudge. They also offer a taste of the monasteries: a gift box containing their chocolate-coated caramels, preserves made by the monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass., and a Gethsemani fruitcake. The cost is $30.80. Write to Trappestine Quality Candy, Mt. St. Mary’s Abbey, 300 Arnold St., Wrentham, Mass., 02093-1799.
BRINGING BACK A FRUITCAKE FAVORITE
Fruitcakes get more than their fair share of abuse. Rumors persist that there’s really only one in the universe. It’s never eaten, but rather is passed from person to person, from year to year. In the off-season, it’s used as a sturdy and reliable doorstop.
Despite this reputation, each holiday season finds the Good Eating mailbox stuffed with requests for fruitcake. Because we could not pry the recipe loose from the monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani, we’re repeating one for Mary Meade’s white fruitcake, a vintage recipe that first ran in the Tribune in the 1950s.
The cake is white because its dense batter is unsullied with the typical additions of molasses, honey and spices. The light theme carries over to the final spirited anointment: Orange liqueur replaces the sturdier bourbon or whiskey.
In this offering, we’ve shifted the balance of candied fruits, opting for more dried fruits, such as dried cherries, apricots, cranberries, dates and dried pineapple. The strategy pays off; the fruitcake is traditional in tenor, contemporary in taste.
MARY MEADE’S WHITE FRUITCAKE
Preparation time: 1 hour
Standing time: Overnight
Baking time: 2 to 3 hours
Aging time: 1 week or longer
Yield: 4 large or 12 small loaves, 48 servings total
We have updated this Tribune classic to use the less-sweet dried pineapple and cherries. Dried or candied apricot halves also can stand in for some of the candied rind if you wish. Seek out the best-quality dried and candied fruits at bulk-and health-food stores.
1 pound each: dried pineapple, golden raisins
1 pound dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/2 pound each, candied, diced: lemon rind, orange rind, citron
1 1/2 cups orange-flavored liqueur
3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
12 large eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour, sifted before measuring
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds pecan or walnut halves, coarsely chopped
Additional orange-flavored liqueur, optional
Light corn syrup, optional
Pecan halves or dried fruit for garnish
1. Cut pineapple into pieces of varying size. Put into large bowl along with raisins and cranberries or cherries. Add diced candied fruits and liqueur; stir well. Cover and let mixture stand overnight or up to 1 week.
2. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Generously grease four 9- by 5-inch loaf pans or twelve 5-by 3-inch loaf pans. Line bottoms of pans with a piece of parchment paper; grease paper.
3. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixture is fluffy. Transfer to a very large bowl and fold in flour, baking powder and salt. Then fold in fruit mixture and nuts until all are coated with batter.
4. Put a shallow pan of hot water on lowest rack in oven. Spoon batter lightly into prepared pans, filling no more than full. Bake until golden and edges have pulled away from sides of pan, about 2 hours for the small loaves and 3 hours for 9- by 5-inch loaves. Cool on wire rack 20 minutes; unmold and remove paper from bottom. Cool completely.
5. Brush cakes with additional liqueur, if desired, for flavor and longer storage. Wrap cakes well in plastic wrap and then foil. They will keep about 1 week at room temperature, or freeze up to several weeks. To serve , brush cakes with corn syrup and decorate with dried fruits and nuts. If giving as a gift, let syrup dry before wrapping in plastic.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …..435 Fat ……………23 g Cholesterol …..85 mg
Sodium …..95 mg Carbohydrates …..56 g Protein ………..5 g
