Gravy from Benz. A dark sauce made from bones and vegetables, reduced for 24 hours.
Bratensoße von Benz (Gravy from Benz) is a classic sauce made from beef and pork bones, reduced for at least 24 hours at the Benz butcher shop in Köngen. No powdered sauce bases, flavor enhancers, or preservatives – a 400-gram can, ready to heat.
Buying gravy from us means you get the exact same sauce that Gina Benz prepares in the kettle for her own ready-made meals, simply pure in a can. Anyone who has ever tried to deglaze a roasting pan with water on a Sunday, only to be disappointed by a thin broth, knows the problem. A proper sauce requires bones, roasted vegetables, and, above all, time. Someone in Köngen has invested both for you. You open the can, heat the contents slowly, and have something on your plate that would otherwise take half a day at the stove to create.
Dark and roasted, with the body of real bones
Benz's sauce tastes of roasted meat fond, braised onions, and carrots – bold, yet moderately salted, with a slight sweetness from the vegetables. The first thing you notice is the color: deep brown instead of a caramel tone. The second is the texture. Cooked-down bones release gelatin, which ensures a full, almost velvety mouthfeel. A spoonful remains noticeably on the palate while staying smooth. Cold from the can, it initially smells only of broth; it is only with heat that the roasted notes come to the fore.
The finish leaves a warm, roasted aroma reminiscent of the bottom of a good roasting pan. Spices play second fiddle. Bay leaves and pepper remain in the background; the sauce is meant to accompany the meat rather than overpower it. This is exactly why it pairs equally well with pork and beef. If you prefer a bolder flavor, add a splash of red wine. The Benz family recommends this themselves, and after a few minutes of simmering, the alcohol will have evaporated.
One caveat: If you are expecting a light, creamy sauce or the thick consistency of a store-bought instant sauce, you will find it too lean. The binding comes solely from gelatin and a little cornstarch. It only becomes very thick if you let it reduce uncovered for another five minutes. In return, even after reducing, it tastes like roast, not starch.
For roasts, potatoes, and as a rescue for thin pan drippings
The gravy should be heated in a pot over low heat, not boiled, and is enough for about four portions. The classic pairing is pork roast or crackling roast with bread dumplings. It fits just as well with meatballs, Spätzle with fried onions, or mashed potatoes with butter and nutmeg. Many of our customers write to us saying that for them, just potatoes are enough. Potatoes, gravy, done.
Its second role is as a base. If your own roast drippings have turned out too thin, add two to three tablespoons of Benz sauce and let everything come to a brief boil. For roulades or oven-baked goulash, half a can completely replaces the need to start a base from bones. A game ragout or a stew with root vegetables also gains the foundation that would otherwise take all day. Anyone who enjoys braising has the most important building block in their pantry with this sauce.
A quick idea for an evening after work: Sauté onions in butter until translucent, add a can of sauce, and let it simmer for five minutes. Serve with ribbon noodles and a spoonful of sour cream. That takes fifteen minutes and tastes like Sunday.
Our tip: For four people, the can is exactly enough for one meal. Covered leftovers will keep in the fridge for two to three days; they will gel slightly – this is due to the gelatin and is normal. It will become liquid again when heated. This sauce is not for vegetarians, as it is made from meat bones.
Nose to tail in Köngen with bones from our own butcher shop
The gravy is made from the bones of animals butchered at the Benz butcher shop in Köngen. The pork comes from a farmer in Köngen, the beef from family farms in the Stauferland and Swabian Jura regions. Nose-to-tail here means: whatever is left of the animal is processed rather than discarded. For a butcher shop, this is the natural path to a sauce; for a sauce manufacturer, it would be the laborious one.
The vegetables for it grow a few kilometers away in the fields around Köngen. The bones and vegetables are roasted, covered with water, and then reduced for at least 24 hours. During this time, collagen and roasted aromas are released from the bones, the stock loses about half its volume, and gains depth. Through the long cooking process, the collagen turns into gelatin – it is the reason why the sauce sets in the fridge and feels so full on the palate. Pre-made sauces achieve this body with flavorings and thickeners in a few minutes. Benz takes a whole day to do it.
Behind this is a fifth-generation business. Master butcher Daniel Benz runs the Schwanen butcher shop with his wife Monika; their daughter Gina is a master butcher and food manager. In 2019, the three founded the delicatessen manufacture to bring the recipes from the butcher shop into shelf-stable cans. The sauce was one of the first products because it is the base for the goulash, roulades, and pork cheeks made in-house anyway. To this day, it remains the long-running bestseller among our Benz products.
A can for the pantry and for a quick evening meal
Bratensoße von Benz is a pantry sauce that tastes like someone actually cooked – because someone did. It stays good unopened for about two years, without the need for preservatives. The heat during the canning process takes care of that. That is why it sits in many people's cupboards next to the pasta instead of in the fridge, waiting for an evening when things need to be done quickly. Those who roast regularly buy several cans at once – the best-before date is far enough away that a stock can be built up in peace.
As a gift, it works better than any bottle of wine if you are invited to a roast dinner. Together with the beef roulade or the pork cheeks from Benz, it becomes a complete Sunday meal on the table in 20 minutes. For people who love to cook but have little time for a stock during the week, it is the most honest shortcut we know.
A gravy that a butcher has prepared for his own table – and that you can order along with your purchase from Köngen.
