When I first heard about Rick Martinez’s new book, Salsa Daddy: Dip Your Way Into Mexican Cooking, I found it hard to imagine how a cookbook could contain just—well, I’d say 80%, anyway—salsas. Not because salsas aren’t abundant and versatile, because they are, which I’m now even more aware of, but because … that’s a lot of salsa.
So I looked through Salsa Daddy and was, honestly, incredulous. The variety of ingredients, the ways in which Rick utilizes salsas in dishes—so far from the typical tortilla chip presentation; and the combinations of textures and mix-ins and his sheer enthusiasm for all of it is intriguing, and the book is going to be so much fun to cook from.
Rick Martinez, if you don’t know him, is a very talented cook and recipe developer; he was raised in Austin, TX, was a chef and then a senior food writer for Bon Appetit, both in New York, and then, five years ago, moved to Mazatlan, where he is very happily still living. His recipes have a cult following, and he does, too—I think you’ll see why during our interview with him.
You can find Rick’s recipes for Breakfast Tacos here, and for La Mañanera (The Morning Salsa) here.
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