Sunday, November 13, 2011

All Gravies Are Sauces, But Not All Sauces Are Gravies

I got a bunch of emails after posting the Turkey Gravy with Porcini Mushrooms and Marsala Wine video, asking about the difference between a “gravy” and a “sauce.” Basically, a gravy is a sauce made from the pan drippings, both fat and juices, after a piece of meat is roasted. So, all gravies are sauces, but not all sauces are gravies. Got it?

So, my Turkey Gravy with Porcini Mushrooms and Marsala is technically a sauce, which I called a gravy purely for SEO-related reasons. This time of year, people are searching for turkey gravies, not turkey sauces.

Anyway, here’s a repost of a real turkey gravy, from our two-part Thanksgiving special we ran back in 2008. This just covers the gravy, so if you want to see how we got to this point, you can check out part one here. To read the original gravy post, click here. Enjoy!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You did say not so long ago you were going to show steak sauces but never did! Slipped your mind perhaps?

Jerry Ko | Simply Good Eating said...

Great simple breakdown for clarifying the difference with gravy and sauces.

Chef John said...

anon, I believe I did here... http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-mayo-method-steak-sauce-formula.html

Cornelius Sneed said...

Hmm. I have to wonder why people remove the fat from the pan drippings, and then replace it with butter? Butter is not turkey flavored, but turkey fat is...

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to make it!

Anonymous said...

I chef John, thanks for all the recipes, they are a fantastic source of inspiration! But here I have a non-food related question: what is the music you used for this video, I love it!? Please tell me! ;-)

Chef John said...

called "Buddy" in iMovie. thanks!