Gravy sauce

Gravy can be defined as a sauce made from pan drippings, fat from the main ingredients, a thickener such as flour and, liquid, with the thickening the defining feature. When the gravy has the correct flavor, it can be thickened to a double-thick consistency with a roux or starch. A roux is produced from the meat fats and flour.

Gravy is first found, historically in medieval French cookbooks as gravé.  When meat was prepared on a spit over an open fore, a pan was placed under the roasting meat to collect the drippings. The fat was then skimmed off of these juices and this was served as a sauce with the meat.

By the eighteenth century the meaning of ‘gravy’ had expanded to reflect the increasing, and sometimes begrudged, influence of the French kitchen, which relied on stock for many dishes.

Gravies accompany big roasted things, such as an Easter leg of lamb Thanksgiving turkey.

The components are essentially the same whether roasting a chicken, turkey, pork loin, sirloin roast or leg of lamb.

In United States, according to the standard gravies must contain at least 25% meat stock or broth or 6% meat. Mono and diglycerides allowed in amount of 1% in gravies.
Gravy sauce