Gravy!

Gravy is a thickened sauce, usually made from a base of the juices and extractives that run from meat during cooking. Gravy is most commonly served with meat, particularly beef, and mashed or other popular forms of potato.

Gravy Contents

Thickened gravies are usually made starting with a roux (a mixture of fat and flour, corn starch, or arrowroot). The liquids from the cooked meat are added gradually, while continually stirring the mixture, to ensure that it mixes properly and the thickener doesn't clump. Alternatively, the thickening agent can be added to the meat juices which are then cooked, causing the gravy to thicken.

Gravy Types

Giblet gravy has the giblets of turkey or chicken added when it is to be served with those types of poultry.

White gravy may contain milk or cream but most often it is simply meat drippings to which white flour has been added. This may also be known as country gravy or sawmill gravy. Sometimes little bits of meat are mixed into the gravy.

Redeye gravy is a gravy made from the drippings of ham fried in a skillet. The pan is deglazed with coffee or water. Coffee is the traditional method. A small amount of sugar is often added also. This gravy is a staple of Southern U.S. cuisine and is usually served over ham, grits or biscuits.

Tomato gravy is a gravy made from canned tomatoes, flour, and usually a small amount of fat. This is a Southern U.S. dish, usually served on meat, and not at all like Italian tomato sauces.

Gravies in Cuisines

A popular American dish is mashed potatoes and gravy. Gravy is also commonly eaten with meat, American style biscuits, Yorkshire pudding, and stuffing. One Southern American variation is chocolate gravy eaten with American biscuits. In the UK, chips and gravy is seen as a popular northern dish. It is also common with traditional "Sunday Roast". British gravy is renowned for its thickness.

Today, completely vegetable-based gravies, suitable for vegetarians and vegans, are also made.

In some cultures especially Italian-Americans of southern Italian extraction refer to thick tomato sauce served over Pasta as gravy. This is a result of multiple types of meat including meatballs, sweet or hot Italian sausage and Bresaola being cooked for many hours in the mixture along with the tomatoes, herbs, spices, olive oil and red wine. The mixing of the juices during the cooking process is what turns a straight tomato based Marinara Sauce into a gravy. Tomato gravy cooked in this way over several hours will have an unmistakable meat flavor that could never be confused with a Pasta sauce. It is also likely that the Italian word salsa (which includes a variety of things we call sauces, including marinara) actually more literally translates as gravy.

In many parts of Asia, particularly India, Malaysia and Singapore, the word "gravy" is used to refer to any thickened liquid part of a dish. For example, the liquid part of a thick curry may be referred to as gravy.