In 2010, I tried to settle the sauce vs. gravy dispute. I mostly failed

It seemed like a good idea at the time to settle the sauce vs. gravy debate. Let the record show it should always be called … well, who knows, but I bet no opinions have changed since I wrote this back in December of 2010 …

You know me; I’m an easy-going fella, not looking to cause any hoo-ha.

Which is why I’ve never, in all my years here, done what I’m about to do. Never dared to look into the eye of the beast. Never wanted to open il vaso di Pandora. But there comes a time in every man’s life when he must do what is right, no matter the personal cost. So...

Is it called sauce or gravy? Before we go any further, allow me to address anyone who has an ounce of Italian in them: I know you’ve already answered the “sauce or gravy” question in the last .2 seconds, and I know you think you’re right. Well I’ve got news for you: You might be.

See, I figured when I put this question out on my Facebook page, I would get a consensus, at least when it came to the Italians.

Let the record show there is no consensus.

“It was always sauce in my house and my grandmother was from Northern Italy and my grandfather was from Sicily,” said Dawn Schiaretti.

“In my Sicilian home, if it starts with meat, it’s gravy,” said Rachel Bailey. “Everything else is sauce.”

“If you are talking authentic Italian family it’s sauce, if you’re talking ‘American’ Italians then it probably gravy,” said John Conte (who also works here, and has been stopping by my desk regularly concerning this subject).

“I grew up in an Italian household and we all call it gravy,” said Martina Clayton.

“Old school Italians call it gravy; to me it’s sauce,” said Jimmy Patricelli.

Clearly, no one knows.

It’s worth noting this question popped into my mind while watching “Goodfellas” for the 4,717th time, and toward the end of the film, when Henry Hill thinks he’s being followed by a helicopter, he instructs his brother to keep an “eye on the sauce.” Well, if Henry Hill, as played by Ray Liotta, is calling it sauce, and Martin Scorsese, Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro are letting it stand, then I figured it was sauce. Then in my Googling, I found out Hill has his own line of jarred sauce. Know what he calls it? “Sunday Gravy.” (I suppose it’s also worth noting Hill was only halfItalian and married to a Jewish woman, so, you know: grain of salt. Or is it “pinch” of salt? Anyway ...)

Anyway, the great sauce vs. gravy debate seemed destined to end without a Regis Philbin-like “final answer.” I needed someone who could put a stamp on this discussion, who could provide us all with clarity.

I thought about finding some old Italian grandmothers. Asking some Italian chefs. Flipping a lira.

In the end, I went with Pete Inverso, the Roma Bank president and CEO, former state senator and Italian-American. He’s a man of honor, a guy who’s steeped in heritage and history, and perhaps most importantly, someone who takes my phone calls no matter how ridiculous.

“All I ever knew it by was gravy,” said Inverso. “It was always gravy in my home. My grandparents lived in North Trenton, and it was gravy. Same in Chambersburg.” Settled, then, right? Well ... “There’s no authoritative source,” he said. “Both sets of my grandparents came from the Naples area, and there were a high percentage of people from Naples who settled here. But there were also a lot from Sicily ...”

So it’s not geographic.

“I know in Italy they call it ‘sauce,’” Inverso said. Settled!

“Now some people say ‘marinara sauce,’ but that’s a distinction without difference,” he said. “We had marinara on Fridays, but we called it gravy.” Oy vey.

But in the end, Pete, what is it? Sauce or gravy?

“People call it sauce, people call it gravy. Take your choice.”

Aaaaaargh. I will now go stick my head in a pot of ... ragu.

In the end, I went with Pete Inverso, the Roma Bank president and CEO, former state senator and ItalianAmerican. He’s a man of honor, a guy who’s steeped in heritage and history, and perhaps most importantly, someone who takes my phone calls no matter how ridiculous.