Asheville chef makes global impact by connecting Mexican foodways to U.S.

ASHEVILLE - An Asheville chef’s going the extra mile to forge lasting and meaningful connections between the U.S. and Mexico.

The local popularity of Chef Luis Martinez, an Asheville resident, is largely due to his pop-up dining experiences that showcase cuisine from his native home Oaxaca, Mexico.

Martinez said the lesser-known part of his culinary outreach efforts is his company, Tequio Foods, which supports growers and businesses indigenous to Mexico through agriculture and tourism led by natives.

“We don’t have a seat at the table in anything here. I felt like there was a lack of representation for us, just a few companies in the states that’s doing that but there’s not people like me in front of it,” Martinez said.

A community of growers

Tequio Foods, launched in 2022, sells wholesale ancestral corn, beans and other ingredients grown by families in Oaxaca to chefs and restaurants across the U.S.

Tequio Foods doesn’t work with large farms but purchases harvests from co-operatives across three states in Mexico ― Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas ― who produce small quantities of 100 kilos or less per year to sell.

The company may receive items from more than 125 family farms.

Martinez said the communities have a high rate of migration due to poverty, political issues, drug cartels, violence and other dangers. Tequio Foods’ design provides an option for families to make a living.

“We’re trying to be small and work with the community. Our main goal is creating a local economy where we tell people not to leave the town and stay working there on farms and make money that way, so they don’t have to leave the town and migrate to the United States,” Martinez said.

Martinez, born in Santa Catarina Loxicha, a Zapotec pueblo, worked in restaurants in Oaxaca City.

In 2005, Martinez immigrated to the U.S. and made a living as a farmworker in California before working in restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco, then in Seattle, Washington.

Martinez said the Mexican government pushed against his community-building efforts and threatened his livelihood and he was granted political asylum by the U.S. in 2011.

Martinez said the families are paid a fair wage directly by the co-op, and that Tequio Foods works with the co-ops to ensure funds are used to support the local community.

Tequio Foods requires farms to be certified, and to meet their standards, which include no pesticides or genetically modified foods, and, he said, the company provides soil checks at no cost.

Co-op farms-to-tables

In 2012, Martinez and his wife, whom he met in Seattle, relocated to Asheville.

In Asheville, he worked in restaurants including The Market Place and Table, and opened Tacos El Gallo in partnership with local restaurateur Jacob Sessoms, which later closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“After Tacos El Gallo, I was broken. I was empty inside. I worked so much and put so much of my energy in that,” Martinez said.

Martinez spent time with family in Oaxaca for about a month where he dreamed up the idea of Tequio Foods. He chose the indigenous word “Tequio,” which means “one thing done all together to benefit the whole community,” he said.

Cooking with Tequio Foods

Heirloom corn and beans lead Tequio Foods’ inventory, which includes plantains, chilis, insects and other wholesale products.

Executive Chef Eric Morris of Cultura, a restaurant by Wicked Weed Brewing, who has been a customer of Tequio Foods for about a year, said it’s a win-win situation to source premium products that support communities, and he respects the vision of Tequio Foods and what Martinez sets out to accomplish through the business.

Morris said he has purchased items including corn, Zapoteca beans, chilis, ants and crickets.

“It’s not something I can source at that high of a quality and I love the flavors that it represents,” he said. “There’s spectrums in every little region and even within Oaxaca there’s subdivisions of cultures and cultural expressions when it comes to food.”

Martinez said heirloom corns from the U.S. differ from Oaxaca, and elements like altitude, water, soil and climate can all affect the product, he said.

Corn tortillas are the minimum of what can be made. Other common uses include tostadas, chips, stews, beer and whisky.

“Tortillas are made with corn but it’s a type of corn that is being preserved and from someone who maybe has been doing it for 50 years," Martinez said. "That little product that people see ― ‘Oh, it’s just a tortilla’ ― it doesn’t mean that to me. For me, it’s culture, history and future.”

Morris said blue corn tostadas were one of the dishes offered on Cultura’s menu. He said there’s a higher appreciation gained when cooking with the ancestral ingredients, recipes and techniques.

“It’s pure corn, unadulterated flavor and it’s quite beautiful,” Morris said.

When Martinez cooks, his dishes often have elements of the Appalachians peppered throughout as local and regional products are used with the ancestral ingredients. The result are dishes like sweet potato mole.

Martinez is known to co-host crossover pop-ups that tie different cultures and geographic regions together, in collaboration with chefs across the country. Recently, he and Ivory Road chef and owner Jill Wasilewski presented OaxaCarolina, a five-course dining event showcasing Mexican and North Carolina cuisine.

Martinez has plans to bring more Oaxaca food and education to the Asheville area by launching a tortilla and chips retail line with products sold at local farmers' markets.

Furthermore, Tequio Foods offers trips in which travelers receive an authentic experience in Oaxaca while supporting the indigenous-owned and operated businesses.

Martinez said he wants the same people who would spend thousands of dollars to travel to popular tourist destinations, like France, to recognize the same value in Oaxaca’s people, customs and cultural foods.

For announcements of upcoming Tequio Foods tours and other information, visit tequiofoods.com.

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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville chef serves global flavors though Mexican, Appalachian food