If I can cook it, you can cook it And I'll travel the world to bring it back home to you.
Last March, I had the good fortune to travel to Bali. I stayed at both Four Seasons Resorts Bali, one high in the mountains near Ubud and the other on the shores of the Indian Ocean at Jimbaran Bay. Recently a new Executive Chef was […]
When Andrew and I were in Portugal last month, we went on a wonderful picnic. It was part of an optional shore excursion offered by Viking on our 10-day Douro River Cruise. We left the ship and traveled high up into the hills to the […]
Our peaches out on the East End of Long Island are outstanding this year. They’re glorious to look at—all those colors from deep golden yellow mottled with shades of orange and red, almost to purple. It seems almost a shame to peel them, let alone […]
We were serving lunch outdoors this weekend. I was looking for something simple to do. We’d planned a weekend of several different dishes in the “chicken or fish” categories. Cruising through August’s Bon Appetit, I saw a stunning salad. Beautiful cherry tomatoes, thin slices of […]
A couple of years ago, I read a very detailed recipe for a tomato Tarte Tatin in Bon Appetit. I worked with the recipe and came up with two versions of the dish. Now that Tomato season is in full swing, I revisited this […]
Sailing The Douro On Viking’s Newest ‘Baby’ Longship, Viking Helgrim August 4, 2019 By Guest Post Leave a Comment Guest post by Monte Mathews The Douro, The River of Gold, is Portugal’s gift to river cruising. Viking Cruises is bringing its formula of absolutely top-notch […]
For all their most recent history as a summer resort for the rich and famous, the East End of Long Island has been farmland from the arrival of the first English settlers in 1640. The land and the climate here are extraordinarily good for growing. […]
The Food World suffered a great loss last month. Molly O’Neill, one of the best food writers in the country died at just 66 years of age. Molly O’Neill was the heir to a great legacy of food journalism that includes such luminaries at M.F.K. […]
My friends at www.Travel-Wise, where I am a Contributor, sent me K.C. Dermody’s incomparable guide to America’s Dinner Trains. If your summer travel plans put you near any one of these four culinary-focused Restaurants on Rails, be sure to add them to your itinerary. You’ll […]
Chicken Cacciatore, that Italian classic Chicken Stew, seems an odd choice for a summer meal. However, not too long ago, I was craving it and having just loaded up on Chicken thighs and with 8 people coming to dinner, I went with my craving and […]
The annual article about the $100. Lobster Salad here in the Hamptons has just hit the press. But since it’s been at that level since 2008, it no longer makes the “paper of record”, the Times. It’s now relegated to the tabloid New York Post. […]
We almost invariably salute the coming weekend with a steak dinner on Friday night. We were both brought up eating beef but we’ve cut down our consumption mightily. And we have a new issue in our new apartment. Our kitchen is completely open. And despite […]
Last week, Andrew and I went to a wonderful party. It was Silversea’s celebration of S.A.L.T. and the immensely successful launch of Silversea’s extraordinary new Culinary program Sea And Land Taste. It was a huge reunion of sorts, with most of the the press who […]
If you’re looking for a great cooking magazine, you really should look into Fine Cooking. It’s a wonderful learning tool. It would make a great gift for the Graduate or anyone starting out on their own. Its recipe directions are not shorthand. They’re written to […]
My name is Monte Mathews. After a 40 year career in Advertising and with a lifelong interest in food and travel, I decided to put everything together in a blog I call “Chewing the Fat”. To ‘chew the fat’ is a phrase that means ‘to talk or discuss informally, to talk at length about a variety of subjects.’ There’s some debate over what ‘fat’ was being chewed but here I use it to mean food and travel talk that delves a little deeper into what we eat, where it came from and to tell the stories that surround almost every recipe I share. You’ll find everything here from Indian curries to Roast Beef Hash, from appetizers through to dessert. 
Lyon, one beautiful city Three years ago, my friend Kimberly moved to Europe from Montclair, New Jersey. Her husband had been assigned by his American company to run their European division which has its headquarters in the third largest city in France: Lyon. Kimberly, Peter […]
If you think a Pot Pie is more of a winter offering, think again. This one has Spring written all over it. It’s filled with fresh Spring vegetables and there’s no heavy cream sauce. The recipe relies on a simple Chicken Stock sauce that is […]
Salade Niçoise is Not What You Might Think It Is Get your facts straight regarding salade niçoise, direct from the source Aug 9, 2016 | 10:01 am By Monte Mathews Staff Writer We have the scoop on how a Salade Niçoise should really be made. […]
As some of our readers know, I am a Contributor to Travel-Wise.com. A lot of my travels end up on this wonderful resource which I highly recommend your visiting: www.Travel-Wise.com. It’s headquartered in Canada although its audience is bigger in the U.S. and the U.K. […]
All hail Super Bowl Sunday, played in controversy this year, in this age of controversy. But one thing is sure, there’s very little of that here. Because through the wonders of Google Analytics, I can assure you that the following 5 recipes are consistently at […]
Pictured above… Northern Fried Chicken with a Watermelon and Arugula Salad There are times when I just don’t want to post a recipe because it’s just too good. It’s not that I am trying to keep it from you. It is just that once a […]
If there’s any worst night to go out all year, it is surely Valentine’s Day…although I think New Year’s Eve is a very close second. I was pretty well sure Valentine’s Day was an invention of Hallmark Cards but that’s not at all true. It’s […]
If you’ve spent any time reading this blog, you know I am a huge fan of Trader Joe’s and not just because there happens to be one just three blocks from our place in the city. I will suffer the crowds for the convenience and […]
