Martín Álvarez González (Ourense, 1974) teaches cookery at the Vilamarín college of secondary education (Ourense). He heads the cultural association As Ortigas [the nettles]  – a group that fights to restore prestige to the properties of the plant Urtica dioica – and is the author of numerous cookery books. His career began in the college he now teaches in, where he studied hotel management and learned ‘everything from how to clean a chicken to the reasons for a creative, experimental cuisine.’ He later gained a diploma in business and tourism from the Escuela Universitaria Cebem, Vigo, and perfected his knowledge next to the chef Moisand in the restaurant of the hotel Westminster in París.