Australian Meat Pie Gravy

A pie floater is a meat pie sitting in a bowl of mushy peas with gravy poured over the top, and the gravy has to be thick enough to stay where it is put. That is what this one is built for. Vegemite does the savoury heavy lifting, which sounds odd and works completely, and a squirt of tomato sauce rounds it out because that is what goes on an Australian pie anyway.

Ingredients

Makes about 550ml, enough for six pies

• 40g (1½oz) butter or beef dripping
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 35g (1¼oz) plain flour
• 700ml (1¼ pints) hot beef stock
• 1½ tsp Vegemite Marmite works, it is slightly sweeter and saltier so start with a teaspoon
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce the Australian name for tomato ketchup, and less sweet there than here
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce for colour
• 1 tsp cornflour slaked in 1 tbsp cold water, only if you want it thicker still
• salt and a lot of white pepper

Kit

• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Small bowl

Method

1. Melt the butter or dripping in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for six or seven minutes until very soft and just starting to catch gold at the edges.

2. Whisk in the flour and cook it for three full minutes, stirring. Take it further than you would for a pale sauce, until it is the colour of a digestive biscuit and smells toasted. This is a dark gravy and the roux is where a lot of that comes from.

3. Pour in the hot stock a third at a time, whisking hard between each addition. It will go extremely thick after the first splash. Keep whisking and it will loosen as the rest goes in.

4. Bring to a simmer and cook for eight minutes, whisking now and then. It will thicken to a proper coating consistency and any floury taste will disappear.

5. Whisk in the Vegemite, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Vegemite is powerfully salty, so add it a little at a time and taste rather than tipping the lot in.

6. Simmer for four more minutes. To check the thickness, dip a spoon in and hold it up. The gravy should cling in a thick even layer and take a couple of seconds to drip, which is what stops it sliding straight off a pie.

7. If it is still too loose, stir in the cornflour slurry and simmer for one more minute. Season with salt if it needs it, which it may not, and a lot of white pepper.

8. Pour it hot over a beef pie sitting on mushy peas, or serve it in a jug alongside a pie and chips.

Tips worth knowing

• Taste before you salt. Vegemite, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and stock all bring salt, and it is very easy to overshoot.
• This gravy is meant to be thicker than a roast dinner gravy. If it looks slightly too heavy in the pan, it is probably right for a pie.
• White pepper is traditional in Australian pie gravy and gives a rounder, hotter background than black pepper does.
• Make it with the juices from a beef stew or braise instead of some of the stock and it goes from good to very good.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps four days in the fridge, where it will set almost solid. That is normal for a gravy this thick. Reheat gently with a splash of stock and whisk it back to smooth. Freezes for three months.

Questions people ask