Cajun food is fairly mainstream — and gumbo, jambalaya and bread pudding can be found on restaurant menus nationwide.
But one dish – gravy – has remained something of a hidden gem of Louisiana. And the “Gravy Boys,” eight best friends from college, are dedicated to perfecting the dish and preserving their cultural heritage.
The story of the Gravy Boys begins, technically, in the 1700s when Cajuns first arrived in Louisiana.
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“They were kicked out of France. They were kicked out of Nova Scotia. They ended up here,” Sullivan Zant, one of the Gravy Boys, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview. (See the video at the top of this article.)
Zant is executive chef at Vestal, a restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Cajuns, Zant said, “were a people of much resource but definitely not a lot of money. Gravy, along with jambalaya and a lot of other dishes that are popular throughout Cajun cuisine, are, for lack of a better term, ‘poor people food.'”
Gravy, Zant said, is “a way to take a little bit of meat and a little bit of vegetables, fortify them and truly give them not only the nutrients, but also [make them] filling.”
He added, “So, it essentially consists of some type of protein, typically the Cajun holy trinity, which is going to be onions, bell pepper and celery and, almost always, but not always, it’s going to be served over rice.”
The Gravy Boys met in college at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The group began a tradition of throwing gravy parties every Thursday.
“From the ashes of ‘Taco Tuesday’ arose ‘Gravy Thursday,'” Zant said with a laugh.
These parties attracted a crowd, and the group used them as an opportunity to finetune their cooking skills. They now have custom denim jackets, and some of the Gravy Boys compete together in Cajun cooking competitions.
In addition to Zant, the Gravy Boys are Trey Delcambre, Tanner Dimmick, Samuel Frazier, Jacab Gibson, Jordon Konow, Joshua Mata and Derrick Savoie. Dimmick recently got married, and the other Gravy Boys served as his groomsmen.
Most of the Gravy Boys grew up eating Cajun food, Mata, the “self-proclaimed CEO of Gravy Thursday,” told Fox News Digital.
“Rice and gravy has always been part of my diet, at least,” he said.
Delcambre has memories of watching his grandmother make gravy and other Cajun delicacies.
“This is just stuff we grew up seeing and watching and observing our family members do,” he told Fox News Digital.
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For the Gravy Boys, gravy is more than just a way to feed delicious food to many people relatively cheaply. It’s a way to preserve their culture, their friendships and the community they’ve built.
“One of our good friends, who is also a very, very successful and fantastic musician from around here, has this thing where he likes to stop at shows and yell in the middle of it, ‘If you’re not living your culture, you’re killing it,'” Zant said.
“And that’s something that really rang true to me at the moment, I think for all of us as well. That’s really all we do.”
Cajun culture “is unique and obviously very special to us,” Zant said, but he insists he’s “not gatekeeping it.”
He said, “We just want you to come and have a good time to meet us and hang out. That’s how you get to break down barriers and really get to know somebody — whenever you actually sit down at a table and break bread with them.”
Zant said they “find more commonalities that way than almost anything. And I think that that’s really important to what we do and why we do it.”
The Gravy Boys shared a basic gravy recipe with Fox News Digital for those looking to start a tradition of their own.
Part of the appeal of gravy is that there is no official recipe – the choice of meat, seasonings, vegetables and cooking time is different for each chef and is largely based on one’s personal taste or what is available at the time of cooking.
This recipe, the Gravy Boys said, is more of a guideline and is meant to be adjusted.
Any cheap cuts of meat (7-bone steak, pork chops, “whatever is on sale”)
Cajun spice mix (salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, amounts to taste)
Vegetable oil
Beer, wine or water (for deglazing)
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1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 bunch celery
Stock (chicken, beef “or even just water, if that’s all you have”)
Long grain rice (for serving)
1. Pat dry meat and season with Cajun spice mix. Dice onion, bell pepper and celery or whatever vegetables you feel like.
2. Heat pot (preferably a cast-iron dutch oven) over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil. Once oil is hot, add seasoned meat and sear for about four to five minutes on each side, “so you get some nice fond going on in there.”
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3. Remove meat after browning and deglaze pot with “beer, wine or water – whatever is on hand,” and scrape up fond.
4. Add veggies to the pot, cook for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add additional seasoning if desired.
5. Add stock (or water), enough to cover all meat. Bring to a boil, then add meat back to the pot and reduce to a simmer. Put the lid on the pot.
6. Simmer for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Afterward, remove lid to let the gravy reduce.
7. Once meat is tender, serve over long grain rice.
