Some days alone in the house, cooking my own lunch, I’d imagine owning a very exclusive restaurant. Guests would make a pilgrimage to sit at my table and I would prepare something just for them.
I did not know, at age thirteen, so many people thought cooking a chore. For me, it was an adventure.
I’d look through cookbooks for ideas. I was besotted with mushrooms. I’d sauté them in butter, mix them into pizza dough, marinade them in olive oil, oregano, and garlic. Mushroom gravy was the best. It didn’t matter whether the base was beef, chicken or vegetarian. Mushrooms tasted better when they soaked up the flavor of something else.
The original meaning of gravy in cooking refers to seasoned sauce or stew. Gradually gravy has come to be associated with a sauce made from the drippings of meat.
But what about red gravy, slow simmered sauce made from tomatoes? Depending on the region of Italy, it may be referred to as sugo, literally translated as sauce.
Sauce or Gravy? They both add flavor to what might be a dry boring dish. Imagine a plate of pasta with meatballs and no red gravy or sauce. Maybe you like your sliced turkey and mashed potatoes plain; but I like my meat and potatoes covered with savory gravy.
During my childhood, at holiday time, we were always running out of gravy to go with the big turkey dinner. Not that gravy is hard to make; all it takes is a little patience.
My Mother showed me how to make gravy when I was about nine years old. First take some drippings from the turkey and blend in enough flour to make a paste. Then heat this mixture in a saucepan and slowly, very slowly you stir in broth and the mixture thickens. Add the flour too quickly and neglect to constantly stir and you might get lumps. My grandmother would add a condiment still available today, Kitchen Bouquet, that contains concentrated vegetable stock and caramel color. It’s okay to cheat and add a half a chicken flavored bouillon cube if you need more flavor. Grind up the giblets or add sauteed mushrooms. Keep it simple or make it more complex.
Be generous with that gravy. I think of it as an enhancement, one of those little details so important to have on the table alongside the relishes, olives, pickles and cranberry sauce. Rarely, in sets of antique dishes, does one find a gravy boat that is not chipped, cracked, or the cover missing. Such is the price it paid for being a much-loved dish.
One of the handles on the lid of my great-grandmother’s Limoges gravy boat is missing, but I still use it. No one seems to notice. They’re more concerned with taking another ladleful of gravy.
INSTANT NOODLES 