The encyclopaedia of gravy
The gravy boat evolved from the 18th-century sauce boat, and its shape — low, wide, long-spouted, sometimes double-ended — solves specific gravy problems.
The gravy boat is one of the few pieces of tableware designed around a single sauce.
The eighteenth-century sauce boat¶
Silver and porcelain sauce boats appear in quantity in the eighteenth century, as dining became more elaborate and sauces multiplied. The typical form is a low, wide oval body on a foot or three small feet, with a long drawn-out lip and a single scroll handle.
Some Georgian examples are double-lipped, with a handle in the middle and a spout at each end, so that a sauce could be poured by either of two diners without passing the vessel.
Why the shape works¶
- Low and wide — a tall jug cools gravy faster and is unstable when full.
- A long, drawn lip — gives a controlled, narrow stream rather than a glug, which matters when pouring onto a crowded plate.
- A wide mouth — lets you whisk out a skin, and makes it easy to fill from a pan without a funnel.
- A stand or tray — catches the inevitable drip. A modern addition, and a sensible one.
The separator variant¶
A gravy separator is a jug with the spout connected to the bottom of the vessel. Fat floats; juices sink; pouring from the bottom therefore delivers the juices and leaves the fat behind. It solves the skimming problem mechanically and is the single most useful piece of gravy equipment available. See fat separators and straining and skimming gravy.
Warming it¶
Whatever the shape, a cold ceramic boat takes several degrees off hot gravy immediately. Fill it with boiling water while the gravy finishes, then tip it out and pour. See keeping gravy warm.
Collecting¶
Georgian silver sauce boats, Victorian transferware and mid-century patterned china gravy boats all have active secondhand markets, and a mismatched boat is often the only surviving piece of a broken dinner service. For everyday use, look for a wide mouth, a well-formed lip and a comfortable handle; capacity of around 500 ml suits four to six people.