Tips for cooking the perfect gravy

Thickening gives gravy the right consistency and improves the flavour. Here are a few surefire tricks to getting the perfect gravy.

• Purée vegetables cooked in the meat stock to thicken your gravy and add rich taste.
• If you add 10 grams (two teaspoons) of cranberries, your gravy will take on a delicious, fruity kick.
• When braising meat, add a few small pieces of bread to the pot. As the stock cooks, the bread will disintegrate and turn the meat stock into a creamy gravy.
• Flour and cornstarch are good thickeners. Just stir them into a little water and add to the gravy before bringing it to a boil. If you use half flour and half cornstarch, the gravy will turn out thinner and lighter.
• A roux is the name for a method of mixing equal amounts of fat and flour, then cooking and combining them with liquid to make a base for sauces. To whip up a béchamel sauce, add a little milk to the basic roux. If you want to make brown roux, add some stock instead.
• A mixture of flour and butter is good for thickening sauces shortly before serving. Knead them together in equal proportions and whisk small flakes into boiling sauce or gravy. Mixed flour and butter keeps for two weeks when refrigerated.
• Thicken boiled-down stocks with cold butter, stirring it little by little into hot gravy with a whisk until you get a creamy consistency. Serve the thickened sauce immediately.
• Shortly before serving, beat sour cream, crème fraîche, or heavy cream into a cooked-down meat stock for thickening.
• Mix a few spoonfuls of gravy with an egg yolk and add to the rest of the hot, but not boiling, gravy while stirring constantly. Beware: if you let the liquid boil, the egg yolk will form chunks.

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