#69. Gravy fries

Gravy fries, like many other diner foods, have questionable origins.

Seen in the movie “Diner,” set in Baltimore, french fries and gravy appear in a Fells Point diner; they also make frequent appearances on menu’s in deli’s, sub shops and diners all around the city. Gravy fries are usually crispy, thick cut fries (either crinkle-cut or steak-cut) served with a heaping helping of hot, thick beef gravy poured on top. The fries stay slightly crispy, with the parts covered in gravy soft and soggy in a good way. In my opinion, the best time of year to eat this hot, savory dish is in the dead of winter with an open-faced, hot roast-beef sandwich on the same plate.

 All in all, french fries with gravy (like their cousin, cheese fries) is a primarily working class food. French fries have always been a working class food, but they are beloved by all walks of life. The “french” in french fries refer to the process of deep-frying rather than the particular cut of the potatoes. These deep fried potato slices are said to have originated by poor fishermen in Netherlands, where potatoes were deep fried alongside fish or instead of fish when rivers froze over. The fried potatoes came to Belgium where peasants, who had access to potatoes as a cheap and home-grown food source, would deep fry them with salt. The french fry craze spread throughout Europe as a cheap, lower-class, fast food; in England they were referred to as “chips” and served with fried fish wrapped in newspapers. Post World War II, french fries became widely popular in the United States, popularized by fast-food chains like McDonalds. Gravy, like french fries, is a primarily working-class or lower class food. Made from juices left over from cooking meat (or vegetables, in some cases) mixed with flour to thicken it, gravy is an example of how no food went to waste amongst poorer families.

So who put french fries and gravy together? Well, no one really knows. It would be lying to say they are a purely “Baltimore thing.” But in Quebec, formerly part of French-Canada, is home to a famous dish called Poutin: french fries served with cheese curds and gravy. This dish is known as a blue-collar or lower-class dish in the area. Poutin and gravy fries are both popular dishes in the Northeast United States, and gravy goes on many, many things in the Southeast United States. My guess is that Baltimore, which (as I have said many, many times before) is a blue-collar town, acquired gravy fries from influences both above and below: Poutin and the general idea of gravy on french fries from up north and gravy on anything from down south.

Regardless of where gravy fries really come from, they are a delicious, simple and familiar food. And after a long, cloudy day of working and running errands, gravy fries were the perfect comfort food.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine#Origins