You haven’t lived until you’ve had Chocolate Gravy.

Whenever some chef comes on television and demonstrates a 40-step process for the “perfect meal”, I wonder how we got so far away from biscuits and gravy. Specifically, biscuits and Chocolate Gravy.

Being a Southern Boy, I was lucky enough to be reared on the staples of poor folk food. Of course, I had no idea that what we were eating was poor folk food, I just knew that it tasted like a million dollars and assumed that everyone’s parents fed them meals that were built on the Southern Food Pyramid:

Beef, Potatoes, Flour and Bacon Grease

In the 60’s, many World War II and Korean Veterans were raising their families on one salary. It was a priority for a mom to be home raising the kiddos, so a dollar was stretched to the breaking point.

This meant that every single food item was made to taste as good as possible and last as long as possible. Back then, no one had ever heard about cholesterol.

Shockingly, we were surrounded by skinny people who died of old age.

When I was a lad, EVERY meal had the following: Homemade biscuits, gravy and fried potatoes. This was at breakfast, lunch and dinner. No exceptions.

On special occasions, my mom made Chocolate Gravy for breakfast.

Now, before you turn up your nose and get all Holier-than-thou, let me just tell you that people came from miles around for my mom’s Chocolate Gravy. Every time I had buddies spend the weekend, they requested it.

But, Chocolate Gravy is not what you think. It’s not really a gravy, it’s more of a dessert.

My Great Aunt Maude gets the credit for this dish. My mother tells stories about how she and her five siblings would visit Aunt Maude and looked forward to chocolate gravy.

Chocolate Gravy is more like a hot pudding, but it has the consistency of gravy.

Hence, the name.

I share this with you in the hopes that you will try it, like it, feed it to your kids, they will like it and then Chocolate Gravy will live on.

Give this a try and let me know what the family thinks. I honestly want to know. Post your comments on the newspaper’s website or on mine at johnmoore.net/blog.

Chocolate Gravy:

1 cup of sugar

4 tablespoons of cocoa

1 teaspoon of self-rising flour

1/4 cup of butter

1 cup of milk

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla (optional)

Directions:
Mix sugar, flour & cocoa together, well.

Then add milk, butter & vanilla.

Bring to a boil.
 Reduce heat & cook on low until done to preferred consistency.
 Pour over hot, buttered biscuits (split in half) and eat with a fork.