By: Angela Gillaspie Copyright © December 2001, 2023

The sound of raking gravy from the skillet causes my kids to teleport from bed to the breakfast table, and makes my husband give me a lustful smile when I set the gravy boat in front of him.

Good gravy can maintain spiritual harmony in your family because it turns every meal into a religious experience. (I once heard a preacher say that Sawmill gravy on biscuits is served at 6am daily on the other side of the Pearly Gates.) I even have a cousin that swears up and down that the word 'manna' really means 'gravy.'

On the other hand, bad gravy ruins the meal, the mood, and has been rumored to cause recessions and break up families. Shoot, I've heard that some men use a woman's gravy making expertise as the deciding factor on whether to make a nuptial offer, I've had many a cousin bag a man solely on a blue ribbon gravy recipe.

Good gravy comes from patience and skill along with the right ingredients: a thickener, drippings, and liquid.

• Thickener. The main ones are cornmeal, flour, and cornstarch. Oh sure, you can use any kind of cornmeal, but family feuds have sprung up over the years on which BRAND to use. The same goes with flour, which is supposed to be finely ground wheat, but I know one family that split five generations ago because one side likes White Lily and the other Martha White.
• Drippings. This is the liquid gold left in the bottom of the pan after you cook, roast, fry, bake some type of meat (or vegetable for that matter). The most famous drippings are those left over from frying bacon. There are gravy purists that insist, "A true gravy is made from meat drippings, everything else is just sauce." My reply to this is since 90% of what I cook contains some type of pork fat - it's ALL gravy to me.
• Liquid. Try using that wine that you hide in the Mason jar in your bathroom pantry, cow juice (that's milk to you Yankees), and even tomato juice. I've even had a cousin (a die hard racing fan) try 110 octane to make her gravy good. Being a follower of Earnhardt, her hubby agreed to buy her a new kitchen afterward.

There are many different ways to make gravy, but I caution you - if you thought you'd get into trouble deciding what brand of flour to use, you ain't seen two ladies in the same kitchen trying to tell each other how to make the gravy!

There are folks that use a 'slurry' to make gravy; they stir together a mixture of thickener and cold liquid, and then whisk this into a hot liquid. Other folks cream together equal parts of thickener and solid fat and then add it to the hot liquid.

The other way to make gravy is by using a 'roux' (pronounced 'roo'). There are volumes of books, pamphlets, and country songs written about roux, so I'll just give you the basics. A 'roux' is equal amounts of fat and thickener fried to whatever shade of brown you prefer. The darker the roux, the more flavor you get, but a dark roux doesn't thicken as well as a light roux. Try not to end up with a black roux - these are evil. Even the dog won't eat gravy made with black roux. To make gravy you just add your liquid to the roux and stir until it thickens.

Another thing to remember about gravy is that it thickens as it cools - it's better to thin a thick gravy with liquid than to thicken a thin one. One time Aunt Darlene tried to thicken up her giblet gravy by throwing in a handful of cornstarch. The gravy was a failure, but Uncle Cletus said he caught some real big catfish using the big lumps.

Once you have learned to make gravy, alienated half your kin, and been included in the will of 30% of the remainder, you can decide what to cook to compliment your gravy. (And the whole time you thought you made gravy to compliment your food!)

Feeling traditional? Go with milk gravy, fried chicken, and biscuits. Feeling frisky? Roast up a pork tenderloin (or 'possum for that matter) and thicken up the drippings with flour, bourbon, and a hefty dose of cracked pepper and mustard. In a hurry? Mix up some tomato gravy to top off your meatloaf. Want something sweet? Top off those left over biscuits with chocolate gravy, of course!

So go ahead and serve up gravy for breakfast, lunch, and supper to keep your family happy. As you can see, there's not much difference between the Love Boat and the Gravy Boat.

-30-

Angela Gillaspie, Copyright All Rights Fried Golden in bacon drippins'

Stay tuned for more SouthernAngel's yummy articles!