Somerset Cheddar Gravy

Cheddar comes from Somerset and a strong farmhouse one carries a gravy easily. This is not cheese sauce. It is a proper savoury onion gravy with the cheese stirred in off the heat at the end, so you get the sharpness and the pull without it turning into macaroni cheese. Very good over chips, and a lot better than it sounds over a jacket potato.

Ingredients

Makes about 500ml, enough for four portions

• 30g (1oz) butter
• 1 onion chopped very finely
• 2 tbsp (30g) plain flour
• 500ml (18fl oz) vegetable stock strong, hot
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 1 tsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce use a vegetarian one
• 120g (4¼oz) mature Cheddar grated, the strongest you can find
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• salt and white pepper

Kit

• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Coarse grater

Method

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium low heat and cook the onion for 12 minutes until completely soft and just turning gold. Chop it small so it disappears into the gravy rather than sitting in strands.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes until it smells nutty, keeping the heat low so it does not brown.

3. Add the hot stock a third at a time, whisking each addition smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes until it visibly thickens and loses any floury taste.

4. Whisk in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce, then take the pan off the heat entirely. This is the important bit. Cheese added to boiling gravy splits and goes stringy and greasy.

5. Wait a minute for the pan to stop bubbling, then add the grated Cheddar in three handfuls, whisking each one in fully before the next. It should melt smoothly into a thick, glossy, pale brown gravy.

6. Stir in the cider vinegar, which stops the whole thing tasting fatty and flat, then season with salt and white pepper. Cheddar is salty so taste before you add any.

7. Serve immediately while it is thick and molten. If it needs holding, keep it over a pan of hot water rather than direct heat.

Tips worth knowing

• Grate the cheese yourself. Pre grated Cheddar is coated in starch to stop it clumping and it melts into gravy with a slightly powdery texture.
• The stronger the Cheddar the better. A mild one just makes the gravy greasy without giving you the flavour to justify it.
• If it splits into oily patches, take it off the heat, add a tablespoon of cold stock and whisk hard. That usually pulls it back together.
• Do not reboil it once the cheese is in. Reheating cheese gravy is best done low and slow with a splash of stock, stirring constantly.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps 3 days in the fridge, where it sets firm. Reheat very gently with a splash of stock, whisking constantly. Freezing is not recommended because the cheese goes grainy on defrosting.

Questions people ask