Tomato Gravy and Biscuits

When fresh tomatoes flooded the garden in August, mountain cooks made tomato gravy — canned or fresh tomatoes cooked down into a tangy, slightly sweet gravy and poured over split biscuits. A summer lunch staple across Appalachia and the rural South from the late 1800s well into the 1970s. Nothing like it anywhere else in American cooking.

Ingredients

• 4 ripe tomatoes, diced (or one 14 oz can diced tomatoes)
• 3 tbsp bacon drippings
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup water or milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Pinch of baking soda (to cut acidity)

• Hot biscuits or cold leftover biscuits for serving

Directions

1. Heat bacon drippings in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
2. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes until lightly golden — make a roux.
3. Add tomatoes all at once. It will sizzle and steam dramatically.
4. Stir vigorously, breaking down the tomatoes as they cook.
5. Add water or milk gradually, stirring until smooth.
6. Add sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir in the pinch of baking soda — it reduces the tomato’s acidity.
7. Simmer 8–10 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened to gravy consistency.
8. Pour over split biscuits. Eat immediately or pack the gravy in a jar for dipping cold biscuits at lunch.

Notes

Tomato gravy is distinctly Appalachian — different from any tomato sauce or cream gravy. The bacon drippings give it a smoky backbone, the sugar balances the acidity, and the baking soda keeps it from being too sharp. Best made with dead-ripe August tomatoes straight from the garden.