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Drover's Roast is a filling history lesson |  | | | A Salem Cross Inn staff member stirs the chowder of the sea. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs |
Editor's note: Throughout the summer, Reminder Publications will be sharing with its readers great places to go that all can be reached with one tank of gas.
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
WEST BROOKFIELD A trip to the Drover's Roast at the Salem Cross Inn isn't just about the food. Don't get me wrong, the food is great, but the experience is part history lesson and part culinary theater.
And I don't know of another restaurant in the region that does anything close to it.
For about half of the Inn's nearly 50-year history, people from throughout western and central Massachusetts have been drawn to the experience. Once just conducted in the fall, the Inn now does the roast twice a year and my wife and I attended the one on June 19.
The staff at the Inn continues a tradition that began in the 1700s. Standing in a field adjacent to the Inn, Bo Salem kept a watchful eye on a huge metal spit holding 300 pounds of prime rib that was slowly roasting over a pit of charcoal.
Salem explained that John Pynchon of the Pynchon family who founded Springfield would drive his cattle to market in Boston from their gazing pastures in Feeding Hills and that he would stop in the West Brookfield area to visit friends. At that time, one of the cattle would be slaughtered and roasted as part of a village-wide communal feast.
Salem said that he and his staff began building the fire to create the bed of coals at 9 p.m. the previous evening. By 6 a.m., the following morning, they put the beef on to cook. Each rib eye is carefully tied and rubbed with the Inn's own recipe of dry spices. Then during the day, Salem and his staff basted the rib eyes with a marinade made from a combination of oil, tomatoes, spices and cut vegetables.
The beef cooked quietly from 6 a.m. to about 2 p.m.
The beef attracted a lot of attention from folks gathered for the roast and they have plenty to do while the beef is cooking. Dinner was at 3:30 and from 2 p.m. on, there were horse-drawn wagons taking people for a ride through the fields, a group of crafters selling their wares, a tent with complimentary "Drover Cowpuncher Drink" and cheese and crackers, and a seemingly endless supply of apple fritters made fresh in a cast iron cauldron right in the field.
There was also an encampment of Revolutionary War re-enactors who periodically march to fife and drum.
When the beef was ready, it was taken off the spit and placed on trays to be brought into the kitchen for serving. Another show was ready to begin and that was the preparation of the chowder of the sea.
In two iron cauldrons over a wood fire, Salem and an assistant prepared chowder that was heavy on fresh Pollock and two kinds of clams. Diners were invited to help stir the mixture over the flames.
When the chowder was ready and the cauldrons were being carried to the dining area, everyone seemed to know it was time to take your seats for the feast.
And the word "feast" is very appropriate here. Served buffet-style, the menu had something to please everyone. Besides the roast beef and the chowder, the bill of fare included: Baked Boston scrod with lobster sauce; roast stuffed native chicken breast with pan gravy; rice pilaf; baked seasoned Maine red skin potatoes; Boston style beehive oven baked beans; spinach pie; Hadley grown broccoli au gratin; medley of summer squashes; chilled herb marinated green beans; soused cucumber sticks; pickled beets; steeped mushrooms; marinated fresh tomatoes; corn and sweet pepper relish; watermelon and two kinds of rolls.
Wow!
The beef was excellent and there was medium- rare to well- done available to the diners. The scrod with lobster sauce didn't skimp on the lobster and was a hit with the seafood lovers at the table. The chicken was also delicious, as were the vegetables.
Just when you thought you couldn't eat any more, there was the call to get seconds, but if you go, be careful you need to leave room for dessert.
The Inn topped off the meal with homemade strawberry crisp with a generous helping of freshly made whipped cream.
Wow, again!
The Drover's Roast is an amazing dining experience. The next one will be Sept. 11 and tickets are now on sale $55 for adults and $25 for children under the age of 12. For more information call the Inn at 508-867-8337.
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