Rick Martínez Hates The Word ‘Authentic’

When Rick Martínez was growing up in Texas, he and his mom would drive across the Mexican border to go to mercados and buy dried chiles. One winter break, they spent two weeks recreating Rick’s grandma’s recipe for tamales, using a whole hog’s head. Even with this deep connection to food at a young age, it took Rick until he was 40 to quit his corporate job in favor of cooking professionally.