Talk:Gravy

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[edit] Gravy is not a beverage

It says gravy is a beverage. Gravy is not a beverage, it is a sauce. I have never heard of anyone drinking gravy, it is not meant to be drunk. I am correcting this —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.172.89.50 (talk) 05:00, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Red Gravy

I'm shocked that no-one has made mention of the alternate use of the word "gravy" to mean "sauce" (specifically tomato sauce). I live near a lot of Italian-Americans (and, admittedly, dine with them as often as possible because the food is fantastic), and without qualification they use the word gravy to mean (pasta) sauce. Can someone better informed than I add information about this to the article?

Acegikmo1 19:23, 9 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I suppose I could qualify, seeing as my grandmother was born less than a month after her parents got off the boat. Basically, "gravy" is used whenever the sauce in question is cooked with meat in it (pork, meatballs, etc.) and is usually only served with pasta. This is used by at least one family in Italy (my grandmother's cousin), and is probably more widespread than that. "Sauce" is used when it is not meat based, such marinara, most alfredo sauces, and especially pizza sauce. Counterfit 06:18, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
In reference to: "Italian-American gravy Within the Italian-American community, tomato based pasta sauces or marinara sauce are commonly referred to as gravy." I think it seems a bit silly to include a statement of how tomato-based sauces (like marinara) are called gravy by Italian-Americans. A common mistake in nomenclature does not a gravy make. Merriam-Webster defines gravy as "a sauce made from the thickened and seasoned juices of cooked meat" m-w.com and OED defines it as "The fat and juices that come out of meat during cooking" or "a sauce made from these juices together with stock and other ingredients." Those definitions seem to imply that a gravy must strongly feature the thickened meat juices or flavor of the meat, not merely have the meat hiding somewhere under a blanket of tomato. Since this isn't really a thickened sauce (unless tomato pulp is now a thickener...) it really isn't a gravy, regardless of what it is called.
This nomenclature variation would be best left to an article relating to Italian-American cuisine, perhaps to the article referring to marinara sauce. Therefore, I'm going ahead and removing it.Jo7hs2 03:10, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gravy In Popular Culture

Do not delete the popular culture section. It's all valid. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.39.141.10 (talk) 16:58, 11 December 2006 (UTC).

When reading the sentence in the opening paragraph regarding ready-made cubes and powders, it implies they have been around "recently". I would question this, as Gravox, a brand in Australia, has been making Gravox powder product since 1917; that's ninety (90) years so far.

Recently, extracts have tended to be bought in the form of ready made cubes and powders.

--203.19.175.105 04:21, 12 January 2007 (UTC)


The link in the first bullet under 'Gravy in popular culture' is broken. I fixed it, only for it to be automatedly reverted. maybe it should be removed altogether?


Agreed with the above. I also fixed it just to have it reverted by a bot. It should either be removed or allowed to be reverted.

--129.138.20.135 03:39, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lumpy gravy

"How to Avoid Lumpy Gravy"? That's just silly. *removed* -Shai-kun 07:11, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Just stir it, Una! Segat1 10:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Is Soup Gravy, Or Not?

My wife and I have gotten into a bit of an argument. She says that there is no difference, in final product, between soup and gravy. You can use soup as gravy, make soup from gravy, and eat gravy like soup. I say this is not true. Any thoughts? Should we merge gravy into soup?-- --207.225.245.31 01:51, 23 June 2007 (UTC)t. sanchez

Gazh 14:55, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Gravy is thickened, soup generally is not. They are different things and should not be merged. Jo7hs2 03:11, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] British gravy renowned for being thick?

Any sources to back this up? I've only ever come across thin gravy in the UK. Segat1 23:24, 4 March 2007 (UTC) Have removed this statement. --APW 10:52, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure a quick google would find something to support this as i've heard it on TV etc i'm sure.


I regularly have thick gravy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.209.61.30 (talk) 13:46, 4 October 2007 (UTC)


In the UK of today, gravy is usually served thin and pourable. These days, thick or lumpy gravy is perceived as gravy gone wrong. Thick or lumpy gravy is sometimes associated with meals served as British school dinners which were generally awful, due to cheep ingredients and the budget restraints of school caterers. Also, particularly during the post-war years when rationing was still around, people often made gravy from Bisto gravy browning because meat was expensive or simply unavailable. The result was usually a thick brown gooey sauce that tasted of nothing in particular. This type of gravy was often served up with bangers and mash (sausage and mash potato) and dishes like toad in the hole which contained meat in the form of sausages - which were usually very fatty and didn't contain much in the way of meat. The British often fondly reminisce and joke about these times, and you will have seen this referred to on TV. No doubt there are still some establishments stuck in a time warp where this type of gravy is still served but generally these times have gone. We have moved on.

In the UK the term gravy is never used in the American sense of a thickened sauce made with a roux. UK gravy is made from meat juices, sometimes combined with vegetables such as onion. It is usually reduced by boiling until it thickens naturally but it can be thickened using a little arrowroot, corn four (corn starch) or with the addition of (shock and horror!) powdered gravy browning. It is important that the gravy remains pourable, not lumpy, tastes meaty and is full of the caramelised meat juices from a roast joint of meat such as beef, chicken, turkey, lamb etc. Gravy can also be made using gravy granules which come in a packet or can however the result is inferior to real meat gravy. All other American uses of the word gravy are not used in the UK. Sauces made with a roux are generally just called sauce. White gravy doesn't exist here, it's just called white sauce. You can be sure that genuine British gravy is always brown - anything else just isn't gravy! --62.249.233.80 20:04, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unlikely and unsourced assertions

[edit] Meat Juices

I think that "Hasselhoff's gravy" is vandalism, but I'm not sure; I can't verify that "Shay's gravy" is real, either. jaknouse (talk) 05:02, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Use in religious festivals

I've removed the following - seems rather unlikely (and thus should be referenced). Googling for "optimisim weddings" returns only this page, gravy + "optimism wedding" returns no hits.

  • Gravy is often used in religious festivals, such as Optimisim weddings where the bride and groom both have to drink from the same gravy boat, which must be made out of paper.

If you have a reliable source for this, feel free to replace it.Robhogg (talk) 20:27, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] American or British Cuisine First

It's silly to have a minor edit war over whether American or British cuisine should come first. The American paragraph was added first and has always been the first paragraph. Changing sections around for no reason at all but national pride is a bad idea. (remember the petrol-gasoline wars!) If there is a good reason to change the article and move the British cuisine paragraph above the American one then please mention it here. Otherwise it should just be left as it always was. Winston365 (talk) 21:29, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Chips and Gravy

I have never heard of any one in Australian actually eating chips and gravy, much less thinking it was edible. This must have been added by a Macc Lads fan. Does any one disagree?Professornuke (talk) 04:09, 8 May 2008 (UTC)