Gravy

[Morning Glory]

@Diane Lane posted a link to a recipe in the Scones thread, for Drop Biscuits with Sausage Gravy.http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/03/drop-biscuits-and-sausage-gravy/
When I looked at it, I thought I must be looking at the wrong recipe. The gravy looked looks like condensed mushroom soup!! Anyway, I read the recipe and sure enough, the sausage gravy is made with sausage meat, flour (to thicken) and milk. So its a sort of béchamel with sausage meat in it.
This is just so alien to me. I'm not sure there is anything like this in the UK. If we were to make a sauce with sausage meat, it would be (for example) with stock (maybe beef), red wine, caramelised onions perhaps. It would look dark brown or at least brownish. On the other hand we might do it with tomato sauce. But white sauce?

This isn't just a matter of what we call gravy and you call gravy (which appears to be two overlapping but different things) - but also the completely different approach to a savoury ingredient such as sausage meat. Here's a pic of the dish:

 

[welsh dragon]

I suppose this could be put in the thread that SNSSO started about the different foods and ingredients and the way we describe things. As you say, that does not look like the gravy we have over here. It looks rather strange to say the least.

 

[Morning Glory]

I suppose this could be put in the thread that SNSSO started about the different foods and ingredients and the way we describe things. As you say, that does not look like the gravy we have over here. It looks rather strange to say the least.

I know, I toyed with putting it in that thread. But I thought the Gravy thing deserved a thread of its own!

The nearest I can think of, regarding white sauce with sausage meat, is Lasagne, where the béchamel is layered with tomato sauce. But that's not really the same at all...
It would be interesting to know if there are other meat and white sauce (gravy) recipes in the US.

 

[welsh dragon]

They do seem to eat some strange combinations where food is concerned.

 

[Morning Glory]

They do seem to eat some strange combinations where food is concerned.

I just think its interesting. I'm sure much of what we eat here seems bonkers to large parts of the world. Cheese, for example, is simply disgusting in some cultures. I think the confusing thing about US/UK food cultures is that in many ways we are so similar and yet there are some startling differences in terms of food combinations as well as language. Its fascinating to explore.

 

[Dianemwj]

We have dark gravy too, of course we do. But biscuits and gravy is always a sausage gravy made with flour and milk You just sprinkle some flour over the browned, crumbled sausage and add milk until it gets thick.. I put a little Worcestershire sauce in mine for flavor and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Or if not the pepper flakes, some Tabasco sauce. It's a famous Southern dish that has made its way across the country. Serve the sausage gravy over biscuits (sort of like your scones) and have at it. It really is delicious. Don't knock it till you've tried it. I spied a dish called "faggots and gravy" on a menu in the UK. Explain that one to me.

 

[Berties]

I think there is a so called culinary licence to call that sauce in the picture gravey,
In the culinary word in the traditions of the beginning there is jus lie and jus roti ,thickened and un thickend gravy,there are 3 stages of cooking a roux bechamel,espagnole and estofade ,with only béchamel looking similar which to us in the UK is not a gravy,

 

[Diane Lane]

Yes, our gravy is usually more liquid than the cream gravy used with biscuits, but the thicker gravy with the biscuits keeps them from getting soggy . Here's another one that might throw you off, it's one I encountered when I first moved down here and the name still puzzles me. The gravy in this pic looks more liquid than the one with the biscuits and gravy, but it's often just as thick. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/chicken-fried-steak-with-gravy-recipe.html

 

[Diane Lane]

Here's a recipe with a thinner gravy that can actually be poured, and is put in a gravy boat. Do y'all use gravy boats in the UK? http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fried-chicken-with-gravy-51176000

 

[Pat]

My household does not eat much gravy, I try to keep the meat moist in it's natural juice. I just had some beef that had a great gravy that was put on mashed potatoes at my sister's house. In my house the meat would have been taken out of the pan and the gravy left to sit in the pan.

 

[Morning Glory]

Here's a recipe with a thinner gravy that can actually be poured, and is put in a gravy boat. Do y'all use gravy boats in the UK? http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fried-chicken-with-gravy-51176000

I don't think we all use gravy boats. But it is traditional to use them for gravy, especially when the gravy accompanies a roast dinner.

 

[Diane Lane]

I don't think we all use gravy boats. But it is traditional to use them for gravy, especially when the gravy accompanies a roast dinner.

Yes, that was the traditional use in my house growing up, as well, but the gravy boats (that picture was actually called a sauce boat) are also used for tomato sauce, to be put on pasta. Others could use the gravy boats for additional purposes, I suppose. My Mom makes a sweet sauce to be put on fresh fruit salad at the holidays, and she also put that in the gravy boat.

 

[Morning Glory]

Here's a recipe with a thinner gravy that can actually be poured, and is put in a gravy boat. Do y'all use gravy boats in the UK? http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fried-chicken-with-gravy-51176000

This recipe is more like the way a traditional gravy is made in the UK: in the roasting dish, after removing roast meat and using the juices from the pan, perhaps thickening with a little flour and adding water (or wine). But I notice this recipe actually references 'milk gravy' and gives the option of adding milk instead of water. But it is made for 'flour dredged' fried chicken pieces. I think this would also seem odd in the UK. If we fry chicken like this, we'd see it as sort of 'fast food' and would probably serve it with ketchup and chips (fries).

But perhaps some UK folk will correct me on that...

 

[winterybella]

When I saw gravy I rushed to the thread eager to see what was the interpretation of gravy. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not expecting a creamy sausage laced gravy. Where I come from, gravy is almost always brown in colour. Generally when people ask to put some gravy on the food there are referring to any brown liquid that can be found around meats and in most cases a stew. I can't say I will be trying this recipe anytime soon, but I do like the drop biscuits.

No one asked me, but I have used a gravy boat only when I have guest.

 

[Morning Glory]

When I saw gravy I rushed to the thread eager to see what was the interpretation of gravy. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not expecting a creamy sausage laced gravy. Where I come from, gravy is almost always brown in colour. Generally when people ask to put some gravy on the food there are referring to any brown liquid that can be found around meats and in most cases a stew. I can't say I will be trying this recipe anytime soon, but I do like the drop biscuits.

No one asked me, but I have used a gravy boat only when I have guest.

It sounds like the Caribbean understanding of gravy and the UK understanding of gravy are identical! Who'd have thought it? Now this has got me wondering if culinary terms in the UK are closer to Caribbean than US... and, if so, why?