Gravy History and Recipe

Gravy is a type of sauce, an old traditional English recipe, usually made from the juices that naturally run from meat or vegetables during cooking. Ready made cubes and powders can also be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts. Canned gravys are also available. Gravy is commonly served with a roast dinner, Sunday roasts, meatloaf, rice, or with mashed or other popular types of potato dishes.

The term "gravy" first appears in Middle English as gravé and is presumed to derive from French, since the word may be found in numerous medieval French cookbooks. The original medieval meaning was precise: the gravé consisted of the natural cooking juices that flowed from roasting meat. By implication, this meat was spit-roasted, and therefore two important implements were required to make and collect the gravy: a flesh fork for piercing the meat in order to increase the flow of drippings, and a dripping pan beneath the roast, designed to collect the gravy for use at table. Normally the gravy was skimmed of fat, salted, and then sent up as a sauce, although presalting was not necessary, since this could be accomplished to taste at table. The term in this sense has been replaced today by jus, as in beefsteak au jus.

* God's gravy is a term used for juices naturally emanating from meat joints during roasting served unadulterated as gravy.

* Giblet gravy has the giblets of turkey or chicken added when it is to be served with those types of poultry, or uses stock made from the giblets.

* Onion gravy is made from large quantities of slowly sweated, chopped onions mixed with stock and wine. Commonly served with sausages and mash, chops, or other grilled or fried meat cuts which by way of the cooking method would not produce their own gravy.

* 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 cream gravy, country gravy, or sawmill gravy. Sometimes little bits of meat are mixed into the gravy. This is the gravy typically used in biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak.

* Redeye gravy is a gravy made from the drippings of ham fried in a skillet/frying pan. 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.

* Vegetarian gravy is gravy made suitable for vegetarians. One recipe uses vegetarian stock cubes with corn flour as a thickener (Cowboy Roux), which is whisked into boiling water. Sometimes vegetable juices are added, which may give the gravy a dark green color. There are also commercially produced gravy granules which are suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.

* Italian-American gravy Within the Italian-American community, tomato based pasta sauces or marinara sauce are commonly referred to as gravy.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.