We Saw You: Wake Up and Smell the Gravy

I was a spaghetti gravy (don’t say “sauce”) contest judge once again at the Memphis Italian Festival presented by the Holy Rosary Catholic Church parish. In addition to getting a great purple (my favorite color)-and-white festival T-shirt, I got to taste gravy at three of the booths.

And, I have to add, all three were exceptionally good. They were so good, I asked for second helpings at each booth.

I love to tell people I was a judge at the very first festival, which was held in 1990. That year it was called “Holy Rosary Spaghetti Festival.” Sixteen teams participated that year. Now, it’s a sprawling festival with numerous teams in Marquette Park.

I’ve been a spaghetti gravy judge many times over the years at the “Italian Fest,” including last year’s scaled-down-event. That festival, held June 5th, featured 27 teams, but the event wasn’t open to the public. It was held without the live music, throngs of people, and several days and nights of partying. It also was held in front of Holy Rosary school instead of in the park.

This year’s event, which was held June 2nd through 4th, was business as usual with 36 teams and live music each night on the Chuck Hutton Main Stage.

It was fun talking to people on the teams.

I love the stories from gravy makers Anna Powell and Maggie Miller from the Meatball So Hard team.

The base of the recipe is from their grandmother, the late Anna Sabbatini Hill, Powell says. “She was our ‘Nona,’” she says. But, she adds, “Everybody put their own spin on it over the years. She changed it almost every time she made it depending on what she had in the fridge.”

Her grandmother also used to separate the various ingredients when she put them in the pot. “Your base always started with the celery, onion, and carrots. The carrots acted as the red of the flag, even though they weren’t red. She put them in that order so when you looked down in the pot you’d see the colors of the Italian flag. So, that way you knew you were going in the right direction.”

The first thing I noticed was how tomato-y their gravy tasted. Which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. In their gravy, for the first time, they used tomato juice that a family friend bottled and saved when canning home grown tomatoes, Powell says.

Jay Foreman, who made the gravy at Bats Amore, is a professional chef. While talking about his gravy, he told me, “The gravy’s like the chef: thick and crunchy.”

I love the clever booth names. Looking at my map I saw “Foodfellas,” “Ciao, Y’all,” “Pastafarians,” and “Eat, Drink & Be Italian.”

Booths had themes. Pasta la Vista’s theme had to do with the 1980s. Team member Evan Wilson wore a pair of pink socks that weren’t Italian-centric. They featured a chicken-and-waffle design. But, Wilson says, “It was the hottest pink neon thing I could find ‘80s.”