No, Gravy Is Not an Italian Word At All

There is endless debate as to whether “real Italians” say “gravy” or “sauce.” For Italian Americans, the term gravy often refers to a meat-based sugo or ragù. Sugo alla Bolognese is the full term for what Americans call simply Bolognese (see note below), and sugo came from the word succo, which could mean pan drippings or meat juices or even a full-on “meat sauce.” Some Italian-Americans contend that the word “sauce” is sacrilege. One Italian cookbook author, Elizabeth Barone Callahan, writes “neither the word sauce nor the use of sauces was part of the Italian ethnic experience.” This seems an odd argument since the word gravy is not Italian at all.

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First, Callahan’s idea that the word sauce is sacrilege seems to be quite a strict delineation of the word sauce, perhaps to refer only to French sauces, but indeed, the word “salsa” was part of the Italian ethnic experience, and this translates into the English sauce, although in our case it was by way of Spanish. In Italy, a sauce would be called salsa, and in the case of pureed tomato-based sauces, “sugo.”

Gravy Is An English Word, Not An Italian Word

However, indeed, the word sauce is not an Italian Word and neither is the word gravy. In America, the word gravy refers most often to a sauce made from meat drippings. The English word is thought to have come from the Old French word grané, which was turned into the Middle English gravé.

While the origin of the word grané is not entirely clear, modern v was written as u in Medieval manuscripts and could be difficult to distinguish from n. Therefore, the word gravé may have been case of someone misreading the word grané.

As to the origin of grané, the most common explanation is that it derived from the Latin word granum, meaning grain, which became the Old French and the English word grain, with grain, in Old French, meaning spice. In medieval cookbooks, the word gravé referred to a spicy sauce, so this derivation may make sense.

As far as their use referring to Italian sugo or ragù, both words, gravy and sauce are Italian-American, and both were adopted, depending on preference, by Italians immigrating to America. Despite the passionate protest of people on either side of the discussion, such a debate probably does not exist in Italy and seems to be centered in the Mid-Atlantic Italian-American community.

Gravy, to be clear, is an English word, and debating on whether it is the proper name for an Italian food is silly. It is the proper name for Italian-American food, depending on the preferences or upbringing of the individual, and this should suffice.  Just why gravy came to be used by Italian-Americans, we cannot be certain.

Gravy may have simply fit the bill for Italian emigrants describing something that started with meat drippings and was slow-cooked with different meats, tomatoes, etc. Much is made of this staple of the Sunday dinner “not being a simple condiment.”

Well, the English word sauce does not refer, at all times, to a simple condiment, either. However, one possible reason for the adoption of the word gravy is that the word gravy did indeed refer to a sense of plenty, in America. See the origin of the idiom Gravy Train for more.

Author David Gentilcore brought this up as one idea among many in his book Pomodoro!: A History of the Tomato in Italy, where you can read more about the possible origins of the word gravy for Italian-American meat-based tomato sauce.

Note: There is little resemblance between ragù alla bolognese and the dishes called bolognese in America. Traditional ragù alla bolognese is a slow-cooked dish using braised meat instead of ground or mince-meat. Flat pasta like tagliatelle are used instead of spaghetti.

Key Summary Points For “No, Gravy Is Not an Italian Word At All”

• There is endless debate as to whether “real Italians” say “gravy” or “sauce.”
• Italian Americans often use the term gravy often to refer to a meat-based sugo or ragù claiming that gravy is the proper term for such sauces.
• However, gravy is an English word, not an Italian word. It refers to a sauce made from meat drippings.
• The word sauce is also not an Italian word. In Italy, a tomato-based sauce is called sugo.
• The debate over whether Italians say gravy or sauce is an Italian-American phenomenon that does not occur in Italy.
• The word gravy is likely originated from the Old French word grané, which may have been misread as gravé .
• Italians in America may have adopted the word gravy or sauce to describe their slow-cooked meat-based tomato sauces for various reasons. One reason could be that the word gravy in English evoked a sense of plenty.