The Great Gravy Controversy of 2010

I have been making gravy for about 50 years now and been making gravy for Mr P for over 20. Every now and then he would bring up how in Canada they make gravy with a product called Bisto and that sausage and gravy is link sausage made with Bisto and served over white bread. Bisto is stirred into water and then added to the fat and flour.  OK.  I can live with that.  That's the Canadian equivalent to biscuits and gravy in the south.  This is not something I make because I'm  not a big eater at breakfast and don't like dough foods like pancakes, french toast, biscuits,etc.  I'm more a juice and toast person.  But recently Mr P has taken to eating biscuits and gravy at one of our fav restaurants BT's which serves breakfast on Saturday and Sunday until 2PM.  I tell him its OK since we are not that far from the hospital--clogged arteries and all that.

Well for New Years Day we often go out for breakfast but frankly I am tired of going places New Years AM and dealing with hungover wait staff and/or cooks.  So, I decided to make him biscuits and gravy at home.  Now, this is no big deal.  Sausage gravy in the south is made with bulk sausage--I think Gunnoe's is best-- flour is added to the fat to make the roux- and then milk is slowly added. Mr P was fascinated with the idea of milk.  So fascinated that he told his sister Evelyn in Canada who said, "Well, that's different."  Now folks, I ask you--what did Mr.P. think made the gravy white. I thought about their surprise and realized I had been eating white gravy since I was child.  My relatives all had dairy farms, the cream was made into butter for sale, and there was always tons of skim milk around which got used for lots of things including making gravy.  I decided to explore this Bisto product and googled it.

Turns out that Bisto has a 70% share of the gravy market in Britain and is apparently made and poured over something at almost every meal. According to the info on its website it comes in powder and granular form. The actual contents of this product was not disclosed but it does come in flavors like beef, chicken, and onion.

Mr. P maintains that all it is, is coloring.  You put some in a cup of water and add to your fat and flour. I maintain that it must have some flavoring and some thickening agent. This became quite a heated discussion.  So, I went on the hunt for Bisto and finally found it in the granular form at the local Kroger.  Yes, this has flavoring and a thickening agent. Mr P says its not the same.

I mentioned all this to my staff--all women--and we had at least a half hour gravy discussion. Clearly, gravy is an important factor in peoples lives when you start suggesting there are other ways to make it and call it gravy. My southern staff found the idea of link sausage, brown gravy made with a thing called Bisto and served on white bread just as strange as the response of Mr P, to the idea that sausage and gravy was made with bulk sausage and milk.

I'm afraid to introduce the idea of red eye gravy which is made with coffee. BTW, every southern woman also knows Grands are the best short cut when making biscuits for breakfast.