The encyclopaedia of gravy
Gravy browning is caramelised sugar dissolved in water. It darkens gravy instantly and adds essentially nothing else — which is both its virtue and its limitation.
What it is¶
Sugar heated until it caramelises almost to black, then dissolved in water. At the doses used it contributes colour and a barely perceptible bitterness, and nothing else.
Commercial versions — Parisian Essence and supermarket own-labels in Britain, brun kulør in Scandinavia — are the same idea in a bottle.
Using it¶
- A few drops at a time, stirred in off the heat, judging by eye.
- Add it last, after seasoning, so you are colouring the finished gravy.
- It is easy to overshoot into a muddy, almost black gravy that looks artificial.
When it is the right answer¶
When the gravy tastes good but looks pale. That happens legitimately: a chicken gravy, a gravy made from a light stock, a gravy for a pale joint. Browning fixes a cosmetic problem cosmetically, and there is nothing wrong with that.
When it is the wrong answer¶
When the gravy tastes thin. Colour is not flavour, even though we perceive it as though it were. Work down the list in getting a darker gravy instead: brown the onions, darken the roux, deglaze properly, cook out tomato purée, add umami.
Make your own¶
- Heat 100 g sugar in a dry, heavy pan until it melts and turns very dark — almost black, and smoking slightly.
- Take off the heat and very carefully add 100 ml boiling water, standing back. It will spit violently.
- Stir until dissolved, cool, and bottle. It keeps indefinitely.
⚠️ Watch out
Molten caramel is around 180 °C and sticks to skin. Add the water off the heat, at arm's length, and do not let children near this one.