# What was this U.S. breakfast dish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527 "2008-12-10T06:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/21 "2008-12-10T12:10:37Z")
Fry up about half a pound of bulk sausage per person. Break up the sausage as it fries. Leave sausage in pan.\* Examine the grease in the pan. If you don’t think you have enough, add butter. DO NOT use margarine. This dish is meant to harden the arteries and shorten your lifespan. Add about as much white flour as you have grease, stirring and whisking so that it blends smoothly. Let it cook and then brown the tiniest bit. Now stir in milk or cream. Keep stirring. If you took the sausage crumbles out of the pan, now is the time to put them back in. Taste the gravy. Add salt and lots of pepper, if needed. Stir and stir and stir. This gravy should be quite thick. Serve on toast, mashed potatoes, or, traditionally, (American) biscuits. I suppose you could also serve it on hot rice or noodles. I also suppose that you could use chicken broth in place of part or all of the milk. Many Southerners (United States southerners, that is) have a very deep emotional attachment to this dish. Obviously the OP has discovered why. \*You can take it out of the pan, but I was always taught to leave it in the pan. Another Southern US dish that you might enjoy, but which will clog your heart up tight, is chicken fried steak. Don’t get it at Denny’s. Get it at a little mom&pop restaurant. This will make you cry with joy. Or you could try [my recipe](http://lynnbodoni.livejournal.com/1230.html). Lawry’s Seasoned Salt is a spice mixture, which contains salt, paprika, and a few other spices. Most people just season with salt and pepper. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/22 "2008-12-10T12:14:11Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > Cream gravy is gravy the way God intended. Brown gravy is an affront to all that is righteous and holy. I think that brown gravy has its place. I love pot roast and mashed potatoes with brown gravy. I rarely eat cream gravy in a restaurant, because black pepper is one of my IBS triggers, and just about every restaurant cream gravy is 1/4 black pepper. My husband and I have been married for 31 years, and part of the reason is because he likes my gravies. He also likes my spaghetti sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/23 "2008-12-10T12:15:20Z")
I am loving this thread so much. Who knew with all the southern, racist bashing that goes on, we have found a common ground. Biscuits and gravy. See? We aren’t all bad. Mmmm, fried okra and fried green tomatoes up next! **Lynn Bodoni** is absolutely correct about the chicken fried steak. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/24 "2008-12-10T13:57:19Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Many Southerners (United States southerners, that is) have a very deep emotional attachment to this dish. Obviously the OP has discovered why. Actually we have a deep _arterial_ attachment to this dish. It’s a dish that we take to heart. In clumps. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/25 "2008-12-10T14:05:43Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > …Another Southern US dish that you might enjoy, but which will clog your heart up tight, is chicken fried steak. Don’t get it at Denny’s. Get it at a little mom&pop restaurant. This will make you cry with joy. Or you could try [my recipe](http://lynnbodoni.livejournal.com/1230.html). Lawry’s Seasoned Salt is a spice mixture, which contains salt, paprika, and a few other spices. Most people just season with salt and pepper. Of course, CFS must be served with [cream gravy.](http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/02/cream-of-gravy-crop.html) Sometimes the gravy is served separately or under the CFS, to preserve the crispness of the coating. A small CFS works well for breakfast–it’s even offered at my work place cafeteria.\* With a biscuit on the side, of course. Cream gravy with sausage is even available in [a mix](http://www.pioneermills.com/WhatsNew/CountrySausage.aspx)–for emergencies. I hadn’t encountered the chicken variant, but it sounds mighty fine. - But I had a diet breakfast today; a small serving of cheese grits with one (1) sausage patty. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/26 "2008-12-10T14:13:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Are we sure it wasn’t grits? I doubt the waiter would have gone out of his way to put a biscuit on grits. Grits you can eat by themselves (with a tad of salt, pepper, and butter, of course), after all. A biscuit is handy for pushing them on your fork when you’re almost done with what’s on your plate, but it’s not essential the way it is with gravy. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/27 "2008-12-10T14:28:23Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Fry up about half a pound of bulk sausage per person. Break up the sausage as it fries. Leave sausage in pan.\* Examine the grease in the pan. If you don’t think you have enough, add butter. DO NOT use margarine. This dish is meant to harden the arteries and shorten your lifespan. Add about as much white flour as you have grease, stirring and whisking so that it blends smoothly. … I agree with everything Lynn Bodoni says, but wanted to suggest another way to do this last part above. I found I got a LOT less lumps if I put the flour in a lidded jar with a little water or milk and shook it vigorously to make a slurry which I then added to the frying pan. Just my two cents on making this gift from the breakfast gods. There is also something called “red eye” gravy which some places put on biscuits and call it “biscuits & gravy,” but it’s made with ham and flavored with coffee and is exceedingly salty. Some people like it. I prefer sausage gravy myself. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/28 "2008-12-10T14:41:51Z")
Welcome to the wonderful world of Southern US gravies. You gotcher white gravy. You gotcher brown chicken gravy. You gotcher brown roast gravy. You gotcher red eye gravy. You gotcher bacon gravy. The only “right” way to eat it is however it tastes good to you. The only “right” way to cook it is however your momma and grandmomma taught you. Thank you for joining our club. Your newsletter and coupon for the first free open heart procedure will be in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/29 "2008-12-10T14:56:40Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > Cream gravy is gravy the way God intended. Brown gravy is an affront to all that is righteous and holy. This is the principle upon which my religion was founded. _nods_ ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/30 "2008-12-10T14:57:48Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > Your newsletter and coupon for the first free open heart procedure will be in the mail. Free?! Yipppie! …oh wait..😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/31 "2008-12-10T15:22:40Z")
Red eye gravy is made with coffee? No wonder I hate it so much! I’ll stick to sausage gravy. And it will stick to me. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/32 "2008-12-10T15:29:48Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > The way I am used to biscuits and gravy being served is poured over a split biscuit. It is very tastey stuff! I like peppery sausage gravy myself, not having ever been offered fried chicken gravy. Sounds good though, I’ll have to try it. That is something worthy of a poll. I have had nay-sayers impugn my sanity for going split biscuits with my gravy. Just split split two biscuits in half, arrange all four pieces in a square, and dump gravy on top. Gives the pefect amount of Gravy to biscuit ratio in each forkfull. Whole buscuit eaters seem to be the majority though. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/33 "2008-12-10T15:33:41Z")
My grandmother made biscuits and gravy that I could eat at every meal. Unfortunately, she took the exact recipe to her grave . Many family members have attempted to approximate, but have failed miserably. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/34 "2008-12-10T15:33:52Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Red eye gravy is made with coffee? Yep, it’s pretty much ham drippings and coffee, or at least the version my granny used to make was. I’ve never actually eaten any, as Mom wouldn’t allow it in her house, but it sounds like the sort of thing that would either be divine or wretched, with no middle ground. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/35 "2008-12-10T15:35:57Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Incidentally, biscuits and gravy are a regional dish that you won’t find most places in the U.S. I’ve seen grits in hotel restaurants many times, but I haven’t seen biscuits and gravy there before. Nonsense! For whatever it’s worth Southern cuisine and Black cuisine are for all intents and purposes are one and the same. So any US city with a significant Black population is going to have Soul Food restaurants that serve it, just find one that serves breakfast. Note it might even be a BBQ joint like the place closest to me. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/36 "2008-12-10T16:02:40Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I have had nay-sayers impugn my sanity for going split biscuits with my gravy…Whole buscuit eaters seem to be the majority though. That’s _insane_! You’re doing it right; who’s eating their biscuits whole? No, no, no…the only argument is whether using a knife is permissible when splitting the biscuit. And anyone with the tiniest, most solitary molecule of couth in their soul knows that you don’t use a knife. Even if you reduce the biscuit to fragments, whipping out the knife is an insult to the cook, ie, _“Your biscuits are too skinny and tough to be properly split by hand.”_ I remember making biscuits and gravy for breakfast with my older sister once when we shared an apartment. We were talking about how nice it would be to have for breakfast, but alas, we lacked the talent to prepare it properly. Serendipity intervened when Sister got specific and bemoaned her woeful biscuit-making capabilities. Holy moly, Sis…I can make biscuits better than Mom’s\*…it’s the gravy I can’t do: I always get lumps. Turned out that Sis made kick-ass red-eye gravy, but her biscuits were more like crackers. We headed to the kitchen and got to work. Yummmmm!! \*that burger commercial that claims “guys don’t bake”? **WRONG** ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/37 "2008-12-10T16:18:11Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > Welcome to the wonderful world of Southern US gravies. You gotcher white gravy. You gotcher brown chicken gravy. You gotcher brown roast gravy. You gotcher red eye gravy. You gotcher bacon gravy. Mom’s chicken gravy is more yellow than brown–you know, like chicken. And then there’s turkey gravy at Thanksgiving. Bacon gravy, eh? Sounds like YUM. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/38 "2008-12-10T16:31:29Z")
Huh. The description of the gravy being like thick cream of chicken soup made me think of Chicken a la King, not sausage gravy. Around here, you can sometimes find Chicken a la King on breakfast buffets to be served with biscuits. For the record: I like Chicken a la King. I don’t like sausage gravy. ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/39 "2008-12-10T16:40:43Z")
We use [this](http://www.mccormick.com/Products/Seasoning-Mixes/Gravies-and-Sauces/Sausage-Country-Gravy-Mix.aspx) with Bob Evans hot sausage and served over hot buttery flavored Grands biscuits. Do not plan on doing anything after eating this breakfast. It pretty much leaves you in a vegetative state. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/40 "2008-12-10T16:45:25Z")
Any sausage gravy that tastes like chicken would be laughed out of the South in a heartbeat. I agree that it was probably Chicken ala King. Nothing wrong with that. I _like_ Chicken ala King. Not as much as I like Sausage Gravy, mind you. But properly made it is quite good. The one thing everybody is missing with all this gravy talk is that 1) sausage gravy needs to be hit with a proper amount of pepper to be really sublime, and 2) it turns into library paste the second it starts to cool, so you don’t have time to chat over breakfast. Just scarf that stuff down while it’s still ambrosia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527.md?page=3)