Cajun meals is pretty mainstream — and gumbo, jambalaya and bread pudding will be discovered on restaurant menus nationwide.
However one dish – gravy – has remained one thing of a hidden gem of Louisiana. And the “Gravy Boys,” eight greatest buddies from faculty, are devoted to perfecting the dish and preserving their cultural heritage.
The story of the Gravy Boys begins, technically, within the 1700s when Cajuns first arrived in Louisiana.
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“They have been kicked out of France. They have been kicked out of Nova Scotia. They ended up right here,” Sullivan Zant, one of many Gravy Boys, advised Fox Information Digital in a Zoom interview. (See the video on the prime of this text.)
Zant is govt chef at Vestal, a restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Gravy Boys, 4 of whom are pictured right here of their customized denim jackets, met in faculty on the College of Louisiana at Lafayette. They have been buddies ever since. (Joshua Mata)
The Cajuns, Zant mentioned, “have been a individuals of a lot useful resource however positively not some huge cash. Gravy, together with jambalaya and a whole lot of different dishes which can be standard all through Cajun delicacies, are, for lack of a greater time period, ‘poor individuals meals.'”
Gravy, Zant mentioned, is “a strategy to take just a little little bit of meat and just a little little bit of greens, fortify them and actually give them not solely the vitamins, but in addition [make them] filling.”
He added, “So, it basically consists of some sort of protein, usually the Cajun holy trinity, which goes to be onions, bell pepper and celery and, nearly all the time, however not all the time, it is going to be served over rice.”
“From the ashes of ‘Taco Tuesday’ arose ‘Gravy Thursday.'”
The Gravy Boys met in faculty on the College of Louisiana at Lafayette. The group started a convention of throwing gravy events each Thursday.
“From the ashes of ‘Taco Tuesday’ arose ‘Gravy Thursday,'” Zant mentioned with amusing.
These events attracted a crowd, and the group used them as a chance to finetune their cooking expertise. They now have customized denim jackets, and a number of the Gravy Boys compete collectively in Cajun cooking competitions.
Along with Zant, the Gravy Boys are Trey Delcambre, Tanner Dimmick, Samuel Frazier, Jacab Gibson, Jordon Konow, Joshua Mata and Derrick Savoie. Dimmick not too long ago acquired married, and the opposite Gravy Boys served as his groomsmen.
The Gravy Boys have stayed shut within the years since faculty and not too long ago served as groomsmen at member Tanner Dimmick’s wedding ceremony. From left to proper, Derrick Savoie, Jacab Gibson, Joshua Mata, Dimmick, Trey Delcambre, Sullivan Zant and Jordon Konow. Not pictured: Samuel Frazier. (Joseph Vidrine )
A lot of the Gravy Boys grew up consuming Cajun meals, Mata, the “self-proclaimed CEO of Gravy Thursday,” advised Fox Information Digital.
“Rice and gravy has all the time been a part of my weight loss program, a minimum of,” he mentioned.
Delcambre has reminiscences of watching his grandmother make gravy and different Cajun delicacies.
“That is simply stuff we grew up seeing and watching and observing our members of the family do,” he advised Fox Information Digital.
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For the Gravy Boys, gravy is greater than only a strategy to feed scrumptious meals to many individuals comparatively cheaply. It is a strategy to protect their tradition, their friendships and the neighborhood they’ve constructed.
“One in all our good buddies, who can also be a really, very profitable and incredible musician from round right here, has this factor the place he likes to cease at reveals and yell in the course of it, ‘For those who’re not dwelling your tradition, you are killing it,'” Zant mentioned.
“And that is one thing that actually rang true to me in the meanwhile, I feel for all of us as effectively. That is actually all we do.”
“For those who’re not dwelling your tradition, you are killing it.”
Cajun tradition “is exclusive and clearly very particular to us,” Zant mentioned, however he insists he is “not gatekeeping it.”
He mentioned, “We simply need you to return and have time to fulfill us and hang around. That is the way you get to interrupt down boundaries and actually get to know any person — everytime you truly sit down at a desk and break bread with them.”
Zant mentioned they “discover extra commonalities that approach than nearly something. And I feel that that is actually necessary to what we do and why we do it.”
The Gravy Boys shared a fundamental gravy recipe with Fox Information Digital for these seeking to begin a convention of their very own.
Gravy started as a simple and scrumptious strategy to create a filling dish for a comparatively low price, mentioned Zant, one of many Gravy Boys. (Joshua Mata)
A part of the enchantment of gravy is that there isn’t a official recipe – the selection of meat, seasonings, greens and cooking time is totally different for every chef and is essentially based mostly on one’s private style or what is offered on the time of cooking.
This recipe, the Gravy Boys mentioned, is extra of a suggestion and is supposed to be adjusted.
Fundamental Gravy Recipe from the Gravy Boys
Components
Any low cost cuts of meat (7-bone steak, pork chops, “no matter is on sale”)
Cajun spice combine (salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, quantities to style)
Vegetable oil
Beer, wine or water (for deglazing)
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1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 bunch celery
Inventory (rooster, beef “and even simply water, if that is all you’ve gotten”)
Lengthy grain rice (for serving)
Gravy is made greatest with low cost cuts of meat, the Gravy Boys mentioned – no matter is offered. (Joshua Mata)
Instructions
1. Pat dry meat and season with Cajun spice combine. Cube onion, bell pepper and celery or no matter greens you are feeling like.
2. Warmth pot (ideally a cast-iron dutch oven) over medium excessive warmth. Add vegetable oil. As soon as oil is scorching, add seasoned meat and sear for about 4 to 5 minutes on both sides, “so that you get some good fond happening in there.”
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3. Take away meat after browning and deglaze pot with “beer, wine or water – no matter is available,” and scrape up fond.
4. Add veggies to the pot, cook dinner for about 10 minutes, till gentle. Add extra seasoning if desired.
5. Add inventory (or water), sufficient to cowl all meat. Convey to a boil, then add meat again to the pot and scale back to a simmer. Put the lid on the pot.
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6. Simmer for about an hour and a half, stirring sometimes. Afterward, take away lid to let the gravy scale back.
7. As soon as meat is tender, serve over lengthy grain rice.
