OK... What do you call Tomato Sauce... "Sauce" or "Gravy" ???

[joe_in_philly]

I call it sauce, but my grandparents called it gravy. I grew up in Ohio (nobody said gravy there), but now live in South Philly where some of my grandparents grew up. It is still common to hear older people in my neighborhood speaking Italian, and if someone says they made gravy, it is assumed to be tomato sauce. I have noticed that a lot of Italians from nearby New Jersey will say gravy.

http://www.dangelobros.com/cookbooks.html

 

[xraytech]

For me anything that is based off of fat thickened with flour/cornstarch is a gravy, anything else is a sauce, such as tomato sauce, pasta sauce.

My cheese of choice is Romano, I like it's sharp and salty taste.

Also for us all forms of pasta etc we call noodles. I'm assuming that is mostly from the Eastern European background, all my grandparents call everything noodles.

 

[sudsmaster]

This all reminds of a time I went with some friends to an Italian restaurant in Monterey. I had arrived a bit late and wasn't really hungry. But I had heard the term "Pasta fazool" and wondered what it was, and asked if I could have some. I think someone asked if I wanted beans with it, which seemed weird to me, and I pictured some baked beans on the side, so I said  "no beans". Well, what came out was a bowl of limp macaroni swimming in nothing but plain tomato sauce, like you'd get out of a can. It was awful. I took one spoonful and not more. Years later I looked it up in Google and realized that Pasta Fazool is supposed to have beans in it, that meal in Monterey probably would have been a lot better had I said "yes" to the bean question. It's also possible it wasn't a very good restaurant.

 

LOL

 

 

[warmsecondrinse]

You guys are making me 'homesick' for the food my ex's family cooked. They're from Abruzzo, which has a cuisine quite different from what most people think of as "Italian". Because of the geography (I assume) they seem have a little bit of everything edible but not much of any one thing. Result: There's a local recipe for damn near everything: deer, goat, lamb, quail, guinea hen, duck, goose, rabbit (very popular!), freshwater mussels, and everything that comes out of the Adriatic, including jellyfish. It's also unique (so I'm told) because it's one of the few areas that eat rice AND pasta. In general the cuisine seems to be heavier on vegetables (especially legumes) & eggs(!) and lighter on meat than other areas. Whole grain pasta is not unusual, although it seems to be regarded as old-fashioned peasant food.

Also interesting is that I'm told that much of the food that's regular fare in Abruzzo is regarded as 'Jewish' in other areas in Italy. That in itself is interesting as Judaism in Italy is a bit more complex than the Ashkenazic or Sephardic grouping(s) we think of in the U.S. (yes, I know I'm oversimplifying).

Another uncommon thing is the 'cooked wine' that is made because it is able to withstand the summer heat. It seems to be different from the 'vino cotto' I've read about and few Italian-Americans I've spoken with seem to have heard of it. No worries, I learned to make it from a guy who was regarded as one of the top wine makers in the village the family came from. Better yet, NOBODY now alive in the family knows how to do it...... only me <evil laugh>.

I don't miss my ex, but I really, really miss the food!

Jim

 

[perc-o-prince]

pasta fazool

IIRC, "pasta e fagioli" literally means "pasta with beans" so why would they offer it without? And plain tomato sauce? My aunt always makes it with chicken broth and I can't remember ever seeing it made with red sauce.

But, just as dialects differ from region to region, so do dishes!

WK, depending on what I'm doing or how I feel, I too sometimes brown meat then deglaze the fond with wine and add it to the pot of red. More often than not, though, if I'm using meat I've been putting it on the grill to sear it then cut it and put it (with the juices) in the pot.

Chuck

 

[sudsmaster]

pasta e fagioli

Whatever it was, it was awful.

 

Even just plain pasta sautéed with garlic and olive oil, with some salt and ground pepper, would have been better.

 

The cook might have been Mexican with even less knowledge of the dish than I had.

 

 

[angus]

What I recall from the Brooklyn corner of the five boroughs is that what you made on Sunday (with meatballs, sausage and braciole) was gravy. If you referred to any tomato based concoction as sauce, it was a quick cooked marinara or in the summer when we had bushels of fresh plum tomatoes my mother made "summer sauce" - no meat and very much like marinara but no oregano.

Pasta was called by whatever it's name was - spaghetti, linguine, fettucine, lasagne, ravioli, manicotti, mafalde (basically looked like thin lasagne) or fusilli (the long ones - not the short).

Macaroni was a generic term that was used as a catch all.

The use of the Americanized terms for mozzarella and ricotta were also heard throughout Connecticut - my father;s family was from Stamford and their Italian pronunciations were abysmal... Quite frankly so was their cooking. Very heavy American interpretations of Italian items and Sunday gravy you could spread with a paint trowel.

Thank God my mother's family was directly from Naples...through New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and settled in Brooklyn. Kind of like the people pictured in the Anna Magnani movie "The Rose Tattoo" but on speed...

 

[revvinkevin]

OK... I have a question....

 

 

For those of you that refer to tomato based pasta / spaghetti / noodle sauce as "gravy"...

 

Then what do you call "actual" gravy that is poured over meat, mashed potatoes, french fries, etc??

 

Kevin

 

BTW.... Fred (Blackstone) that House of Gravy video was VERY funny!  Thanks for sharing it!

 

[appnut]

I"ve read through the thread and am in line. Only time I heard it referred to as gravy was from Italian heritage family from NYC/NJ in 1986. Everyone else has called it not being gravy. Pasta sauce and genereically referred to as pasta until the need for a specified type of pasta.

 

[angus]

Kevin - That other gravy was universally referred to as "brown gravy". So, the conversation would go something like this:

Me: "Ma, what are having for supper? (note I didn't call it "dinner")
Ma: "Roast beef (or loin of pork, or turkey or chicken, etc...), mashed potatoes, peas and "brown gravy"

So whatever the meat, it was served with "brown gravy"... regardless of the shade of brown.

 

[countryguy]

I've never, ever heard anyone refer to tomato sauce as gravy. All the cans in the stores around here say tomato sauce....not tomato gravy.

 

[retro-man]

Was grocery shopping the other day and for the 1st time there was a small display of jars set up and the label on the front in big letters say Red Gravy. Never saw it before. Its made by a local company called "Ya Mammas'.

Jon

 

[sudsmaster]

Or just don't call it anything.

 

I picked up a four pack of Bertoli "Organic Olive Oil, Basil, and Garlic", with "sauce" in tiny letters that are not readily readable in the store. It's not bad over cavatappi pasta, which I have a surplus of these days.

 

[toploader55]

There are some pretty darn good jarred sauces out there.

One of my favorite quick Pasta Dinners is saute some Onions and Garlic in Olive Oil. Add some white wine, a can of Tuna, (Preferably Tonno in Olive Oil), and then some Marinara and a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper. Serve on Fusilli or Rotini. or any Pasta that will hold the sauce.

 

[joe_in_philly]

Over the weekend I saw this sign outside a restaurant in the Italian Market near me.

 

[toploader55]

See...

Gravy does exist in certain areas.

 

[miele_ge]

Eddie, We have a name for that in our house.....

"Assistante del tonno" - Tuna Helper in Italian!  

 

I love it - my partner can't stand the idea of it - reminds him of Tuna Helper when he was a kid.  

 

But I make mine with canned San Marzano tomatoes - no jarred sauce in my house!  Found 2 versions of it - one from Marcella Hazan and one from Biba Caggiano  which is my preferred one - after  all "You Can't Make A Booboo with Biba!"

 

Green Acres fans will remember my tag line from the episode where Lisa makes a boxed cake mix IN THE BOX.  The Brand was "Bibbers" and their slogan was "You Can't Make a Booboo with Bibbers".  I guess they were right because Oliver proclaimed in surprise that the cake was good.  Of course, anything was better than those Hot Cakes!  

 

 

 

 

[toploader55]

Hey Alan

When the woman that showed me how to make this Tuna Sauce, she called it "Linguine con Tonno".

The jarred sauce thing...

Sometimes when your in the Kitchen (Restaurant) all day and it's busy, you forget to eat sometimes. And after awhile, you get tired of everything that you have in house. In house meaning food at the restaurant.

So you get home, have a drink or glass of wine and then it strikes you ... " I haven't eaten a thing all day".... Enter the wonderful world of Pantry Staples.
Box of Pasta, Can of Tuna, Jar of Sauce. In the fridge.. That Spanish onion that is beginning to sprout, a wedge of cheese and some garlic.

The possibilities are endless.

 

[miele_ge]

Eddie - i think i get it now

When you do something for a living you don't always want to do it for fun - especially when you're tired and hungry.  Point taken

 

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Pantry Staples:

Of course I get it Eddie. There's days where the inmates eat twice before I see more than a cup of coffee. Also there are some days where I get tired of the prison food(although it is fairly good) and just want something else. Coming Home I don't want to do a big meal and then it's pizza night.
WK78

 

[ptcruiser51]

Garden State translation

I didn't have many Italian friends as a young child. We always called anything red "tomato sauce" or "spaghetti sauce". We were poor, so all we ever had was actual spaghetti or macaroni. Maybe on rare occasions rotini (spirals). Or for a real treat, "wagon wheels". Gravy for us was always meat-based brown stuff. Served over meat, spuds, or leftovers. Even the greasy spoons/diners referred to your choice of french fries or home fries as a "frenchy gravy". I still order this way, responded by puzzled expressions.

 

[toploader55]

You Know Nick.

I am surrounded by Fresh Seafood that is not in my cooler more than 36 hours we're so busy and have the ordering down pat.

 

But when I get home, just a nice simple pasta or Roast Chicken is heaven !!!

 

Yup. Those days where you jump on the line and it's just busy and it rolls into the dinner rush, you just want to get out.

 

[foraloysius]

Here's a recipe for tomato based gravy

http://www.hungryboar.com/2009/12/sundaygravy/

 

[perc-o-prince]

Of course, anything was better than those Hot Cakes!

Oh, but remember when it was in Lisa Douglas-ese it was "hots cakes!" Still love that show, and the best moments were the electrical system that was run on the system of 7!

Chuck

 

[agiflow2]

Being from the NY/NJ area we probably have the highest concentration of Italians in the US. In my neck of the woods it was called making a "pot of gravy".

 

[mrsalvo]

"Up here it is sauce, as gravy is what you put on meat and potatoes. Pasta is referred to what it is, noodles, macaroni or spaghetti. We call it soda but other regions call it pop. Its interesting to see every part of this big country has a lot of diversity in what things are referred to as."

My family is from Missouri/Arkansas region, we always called it sauce, gravy was brown or white to go over various meat / potato dishes. Sodas were called Cokes, no matter the flavor. Southern cooking was really loaded in fat (mostly lard and cornmeal, most things fried except the Sunday Brisket or Pot Roast, not the most healthy diet by far but socio economic factors played heavily into the foods. In Lous. the foods were often spicy (NOT a family favorite) and coffee was made much, much stronger (Cajun)....could grow hair on your chest!!!! LOL.

Fried Chicken, Fried Mushrooms, Green Fried Tomatoes, Fried pork, Fried Fish, Fried Noodles, Fried Okra, Fried Potatoes, Fried Squash, Fried Funnel Cakes, Fried Eggs, ETC. ETC. If it was cookable it was fried, sadly it still is in many economically depressed areas. Arteries were clogged by the age of 40, many died in their 50's. Sorry guys, I got off topic.

 

[askolover]

First you make a roux

as they say in NOLA.  Gravy is made from meat drippings and flour.  And the generic term for a soft drink here is "coke".  "What kind of coke do you want?  Dr. Pepper please." 

Tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, lasagna sauce.  We refer to pasta as the particular noodle that it is...spaghetti, macaroni, rotini, etc.

 

[agiflow2]

Well I would say our sauces/Gravy were flavored with meat BIG TIME. We would make meatballs, sausage, pork neck bones and braciole. Let that simmer in the "Gravy" after you fried all the meat up. What a delicious meal. We never said pasta either when referring to what kind we eat. We said ziti or spaghetti.

 

[brucelucenta]

Whadda you crazy? It's sauce of course!

 

[vacerator]

Sicilians

call it "sugo" which means sauce. Amaggio sauce is chunky, served mainly with breaded steak Siciliano. Marinara is meatless sauce. Bolognese sauce can have meat, and wine.
There is also vodka red tomato sauce. Call it all gravy if you wish.
The french have 3 basic sauces. The mother sauce, or white sauce, also known as bechemel. Butter sauce, or Bernaise, and Gastrique's, which are meat and or wine sauces reduced by at least 1/3 to 1/2 to enhance flavors.

A thickened sauce from butter and flour is began with a roiux. When cream or milk is added, it becomes a white sauce, like for macaroni and cheese. Tempering in egg yolks and lemon juice makes it hollandaise sauce.
If stock, and or wine is added, it becomes a gumbo, etoufe', or gravy.
Is fille' gumbo a soup, or sauce, or a stew? I guess it depends on the meats and vegetables added