Author and chef Rick Martinez, who proudly wears his self-described “gay tio energy,” just published his second cookbook, “Salsa Daddy.” The book’s riotously colorful pages feature recipes for 70 salsas (and 24 salsa-based meals). Raw, cooked, historic, avant-garde, basic, complex, rustic, spicy, saucy: salsas are as diverse as Mexican flavors.
“Salsa Papa” It’s a cheekier approach to Mexican food. Rather than take on the totems of Mexican cuisine, Martinez uses her background, identity, and creativity to discuss them, tell stories, and riff on salsa for readers to digest and make up their own.
Martinez, a South Texas native with Mexican roots, said he was often told he wasn’t fit to be American or Mexican. After working in advertising, he finally followed his dreams by attending culinary school and transitioning into a career in food media at Food Network and then Bon Appétit. His first cookbook,Mi Cosina “Recipes and Delights from the Mexican Kitchen” won the James Beard Award for Best International Cookbook. Today, after visiting all 32 states of Mexico, Martinez feels she has truly found home. He currently lives with his dog Choco in Mazatlan, Mexico, just steps from the waves of the Pacific Ocean.
Martinez says salsa is “one of the most popular condiments in the United States. Over the years, I’ve been asked the same question over and over again: ‘I love salsa, but I only know one or two ways to make it. I love salsa. I love salsa, but I only know one or two ways to make it. I love salsa.’ How can I level up? ”
“Salsa is low-cost, low-labor, and requires no fancy equipment or culinary training. But what it demands and rewards is passion and creativity.”
Salsa offers a spark of play, a sense of freedom, that there is no “right way” to make salsa. This is a cooking game with few rules or limitations, open thinking, and no adherence to false authenticity. Just as people around the world cook with what’s around them, salsas reflect the nature of the foods and flavors in their local cupboards. “There’s no such thing as a salsa police,” he says.
Martinez divides the book into several salsa categories: smashed, chopped, blended, sweet, hot, cooked, and special. He begins the book with some essential tools for making salsa (a molcajete, a good knife), chili peppers, and a key to pantry ingredients.
Highlights include the creamy La Tatemada Cremosa (charred tomato, adobo chipotle, crema), the chunky Knipek (tomato, habanero, sour orange), and even the three types of salsa macha (peanut, ghiajillo, chile de arbol, almond, sesame, habanero, cashew, vanilla, ghee).
The last chapter summarizes the previous seven chapters under the heading “Simple Meals.” This chapter provides readers with different ways to make dishes based on or with the salsas he outlined, such as chilaquiles, tacos, and posole verde. There’s also one dessert. Chocolate chunk cookies and piloncillo (brown unrefined sugar) based on the flavor of salsa matcha.
During this adventure and discovery of appearing in food media, Martinez proudly came out as gay.
“The point is, I’m gay, and that’s a big part of how I show up in the world: fun, unapologetically, colorfully,” he says, which is reflected in the sultry, saturated colors of “Salsa Daddy” (and the book’s title). It received “malicious” comments and reactions in the culinary industry. Rather than hide, he decided to live a life that made him happiest, including a career in the food industry, which gave him a sense of “peace, strength, and joy.” Being gay is “the source of joy, freedom, play, and boldness in everything I do.” He also grew up embracing his unique Mexican American identity, which helped him overcome hardship and isolation.
Martinez continues to present himself colorfully and thoroughly through his writing, vibrant Instagram presence, and books like “Salsa Daddy.”
“The goal of ‘Salsa Daddy’ is to give people the permission and tools to create something fun, bold, and personal. To stop chasing the myth of authenticity and start trusting your own sazon. To unlock an entire category of flavor and make it your own.”
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Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
