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. Rick’s first cookbook, Mi Cocina, follows his 18-month road trip across Mexico in search of regional dishes and a connection to his roots. But, as Rick tells Dan, it’s not the book he set out to write.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.