Comments on: Giving Up Sunday Gravy: A Lost Food Tradition

By: Denise Lincoln

Denise Lincoln — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:12:18 +0000

Stephanie R — It sounds like our Sunday gravies were pretty similar, although I had completely forgotten about the rolled up pig skin. My mother only occasionally included it, but when she did, it helped flavor the whole pot and was one of my favorite things to eat. Thanks for jogging my memory!

By: Stephanie R.

Stephanie R. — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:34:25 +0000

Yeah this is a wonderful memory for me too. My grandfather came from a little town near Bari and my grandmother from a little town near Napoli. There were some compromises made so it a mix. My dad taught my german mom how to make the gravy and it became a wonderful tradition. She made the meatballs, braciole and rolled pig skin from scratch. Hot and mild Italian sausages, lamb shanks, and beef (chuck roast I think) were bought and braised in a gi-nourmous pot. Some fat was drained off, but the drippings were deglazed and used to flavor the gravy which simmered all morning. I also have memories of meatballs for breakfast. One thing is that this process was on a larger scale for our family because mom would freeze up containers of gravy to be used on other days. It was always fun to see what meat was in the container that night. We weren’t allowed to pick, so the meat exchange negotiations were always entertaining.

I think I’m going to have to plan an Sunday Italian Gravy night and invite my friends over to celebrate this tradition.

By: Denise Lincoln

Denise Lincoln — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:01:52 +0000

I love how gravy, or ragù, has different nuances throughout Southern Italy. Each region seems to make it a little differently, and each Italian Grandma within those regions has her own secrets.

I also have always loved the idea of a big Southern fried chicken dinner. I need to get adopted into someone’s family so I can experience the real deal :-)

By: Joseph A. di Paolantonio

Joseph A. di Paolantonio — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:02:46 +0000

My family called this a ragù, or meat sauce. A “big ragù” for Sunday would be made of roma tomatoes cooked down and processed through a food mill and poured over [deglazing the pan with red wine first] roasted pork, veal shanks, braciole, hot and mild Italian sausages, garlic cloves, red torpedo onions studded with bayleaf nailed to the onion with cloves, and then braised in the oven for another two hours, with meatballs added an hour before serving, and shredded basil leaves stirred in just before serving. The link that I gave for my website, is the blog posting for my meatball, Abruzzo Polpettine, recipe, which shares some elements with a simple ragù. There are also links there to wonderful, traditional ragù and pesto recipes from Gianugo Rabillino.

By: maggiemay

maggiemay — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:25:01 +0000

In my family, our Southern Sunday dinner consisted of fried chicken, rice, and lots of gravy. There might be some mustard greens or maybe green beans cooked until they fell apart. No, absolutely not healthy and I do not eat this anymore except sometimes…
sometimes I must fry chicken and make gravy or I’ll surely die.