Month: July 2025

Got Gravy Let’s Eat

Growing up, gravy was always a staple in my mother's kitchen. Even today, many people smother my favorite meals in gravy. We often prepared gravy last, and I know when we got gravy, let's eat was coming. Even today, I look for smothered items on the menu and regularly order them.

Gravy is a sauce, typically made from meat juices, thickened with a starch (like flour or cornstarch), and seasoned. Chefs often serve it with roasted meats, mashed potatoes, and other dishes. While cooks make most gravies brown, using meat drippings, they create white gravy as a popular variation with a roux (fat and flour) and milk. Merriam-Webster defines gravy as ``a sauce made from the thickened and seasoned juices of cooked meat.'' Further detail from What's Cooking America tells us that gravy often has a thicker consistency due to its use of flour, cornstarch, or some other thickening agent (Wondra, anyone?).

What is called sugo or salsa, which translates to sauce, not gravy, is what has always been made by Italians to top their pasta. The term “Sunday gravy” became popular among Italian Americans in the U.S., but that was just an Americanized way of describing a slow-cooked, meat-infused tomato sauce. When most Southerners talk about gravy (particularly biscuits and gravy), we're talking about sawmill gravy — that delicious, creamy white sauce that often has cooked breakfast sausage folded inside.

Got Gravy Let's Eat
Got Gravy Let's Eat

Gravy Making - Got Gravy Let's Eat

There are as many recipes and methods for preparing gravy as there are people making gravy. What chefs will all agree upon is that good gravy begins with good ingredients. Being the connoisseurs that we are, we have created mixes using all-natural ingredients. You can use our mixes for making gravy for each of your favorite food groups. Different gravy specialties cater to diverse culinary preferences and regional traditions. Chefs commonly serve gravy, fundamentally a sauce derived from meat or vegetable juices, with roasts, mashed potatoes, and other dishes. Cooks typically thicken it with ingredients like flour or cornstarch and can further flavor it with spices, herbs, or wine.

We offer a seasoned blend you can use as is or add your favorite specialty items like meat, vegetables, etc. Many chefs use flour, and that is what we use as the base for ours. Gus has created gluten-free versions for our friends with food allergies. All gravy mixes are sold in resealable bottles to maximize freshness. Click the button below, and it will take you directly to our page containing these mixes. Let Got Gravy Let's Eat become a slogan in your kitchen.

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"Life's Good When You're Cookin Wit' Gus"

Common & Uncommon Spices

There are many different types of spices, encompassing a wide range of flavors, aromas, and uses. Chefs everywhere have their common & uncommon spices. Experts can broadly categorize spices by their flavor profiles (e.g., sweet, savory, pungent, bitter), the part of the plant they come from (seeds, fruits, barks, etc.), or by their botanical classification. Common spices used in cooking include salt, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and paprika. Other popular spices are cloves, cardamom, cayenne pepper, oregano, basil, and bay leaves. Chefs frequently use most spices in this category in various cuisines around the globe.

Common spices and their uses vary widely, with each spice offering a unique flavor profile and culinary application. Some ingredients, for example, add flavor in baking, like cinnamon and nutmeg. While others, such as cumin and coriander, are staples in savory dishes. Chefs use black pepper, a versatile spice, in virtually every cuisine. For the sake of argument, we categorize uncommon spices as specialty spices that chefs do not use every day. In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance. They come in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. People distinguish spices from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants. Cooks use each for flavoring or as a garnish.

Common & Uncommon Spices Differentiation

Depending on where you live globally, common spices flavor that region's dishes. Most people genuinely accept that Black Pepper is the 'king of spices' and rightfully so. Unlike its perennial companion, salt, which is easily available in any nook and corner of the world. Black pepper owes its origins to Kerala – a state in South India. For Chefs, one of the most highly prized and exotic spices is Cardamom or Elettaria Cardamomum Maton. For this reason, it rightly deserves the name “queen of spices”. People also commonly refer to it as the “green cardamom” or the “true cardamom,” and it belongs to the family of ginger.

We have many of the common & uncommon spices in our store. Glass jars are an excellent choice for storing spices. That is because they are non-reactive, won't absorb odors, and allow you to see the contents of the jar. They're also environmentally friendly and reusable, reducing waste in your kitchen. We ship all spices in this category in glass jars for maximum freshness. The best way to store spices is in airtight containers in a cool, dark, and dry place. Keeping them away from direct sunlight, heat, and moisture helps preserve their validity. This helps preserve their flavor and potency. Clicking the button below will take you directly to the everyday spices in our store. We have 60+ unique spices in our store, and our goal is to make it easier to keep your cabinet well stocked.

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"Life's Good When You're Cookin Wit' Gus"

Aloha Baby Summer Sauce

One thing I always look forward to is the freshness of summertime fruit. Crisp, fresh, & sweet are a few adjectives that come to mind. We use these summer fruits to make our Aloha Baby summer sauce. Fresh fruit is the base for making this sauce, and because we use no additives or preservatives, you can taste the difference.

Summer is a fantastic time for a wide variety of fruits. Some popular choices include berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries; stone fruits such as peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, and cherries; and other favorites like watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, mangoes, grapes, and pineapples. Several fruits are particularly healthy during the summer, including berries like strawberries and blueberries, stone fruits like peaches and cherries, and watermelon. These fruits are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, offering benefits like improved heart health, reduced inflammation, and boosted immune function.

Aloha Baby summer sauce is our answer for a sauce that complements, is flavorful, and good for your system. Our two favorite uses for Aloha Baby BBQ sauce are smoking pork shoulder for pulled pork sandwiches and ribs. Wrapping the meat or not, the fruit in this sauce adds pizzazz to the meat, and you can taste. Pork is traditionally served at Luau’s, and that was the impetus for this sauce. If you’re smoking a whole pig, this sauce is the only choice. Pork is the best use for this sauce, but it has also been used on seafood or poultry tacos. Aloha Baby is extremely versatile, and we would love to hear back regarding how you use it.

Aloha Baby Summer Sauce Ingredients:

Peaches, Mangoes, Pineapple, Red Onions, Sliced Garlic, Tomato Sauce, Brown Sugar, Cider Vinegar, Chili Powder, Parsley & Basil.

Let us not forget to mention this sauce, like all our others, is additive, preservative, and flavor enhancer free. The next time you're in stores looking at BBQ sauce, just take a look at the ingredients list. These engineered ingredients are what make it so easy to sell their products cheaply. We want you to taste the flavor of the food, not what someone concocted in a laboratory somewhere.

*** Refrigeration required before and after opening ***

“Life’s Good When You’re Cookin Wit’ Gus”

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