Diego Schattenhofer in Pellagofio: the matured goat fillet tartare
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- In the press
“A cured goat tartare is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten”
by Yuri Millares, in Pellagofio No. 143, October 2025
Pellagofio, a digital gastronomy magazine, has published an interview in its issue No. 143 in which we talk about goat meat maturation and the book “La magia de la carne de cabra madurada”. It matters to us because it gives visibility to research by the ICIA and to the work we do from the Taste 1973 kitchen.
The article, written by Yuri Millares and subtitled “Caprino y alta cocina” (Goats and haute cuisine), reflects that research by the Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias (ICIA), in which the veterinarian Marichu Fresno acted as principal researcher and for which Diego wrote the recipe book. Pellagofio Ediciones took part in editing a work that the magazine describes as the “first scientific experience in the world with matured goat meat”. The book’s thirteen recipes were prepared in our restaurant, inside the Hotel Villa Cortés, and there was also a presentation with a tasting of the recipe book at the Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz.
On the substance of the matter, the maturation of Canarian goat meat, Diego sums it up like this in the interview: “It has stirred a lot of emotions because, thanks to a technique that already existed, the enzymatic action in the meat during curing, the meat softens and allows us to work the goat with the idea of taking it into haute cuisine.” One of the recipes featured in the piece is the steak tartare of matured fillet of Canarian goat, finely knife-chopped and mixed with egg yolk, mustard, piparra pepper, capers, onion, gherkins, salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil. Of that dish, Diego says: “A cured goat tartare, I think, is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten — I’d choose this tartare over one made with cured beef.” Fresno and Diego also stress the nutritional profile of this meat: rich in high-quality protein and low in saturated fat, a healthy alternative to other red meats.
As Marichu Fresno details, the research and its recipe book have featured in presentations and talks across Europe and the Americas: Madrid Fusión, the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián, the I Curso Internacional de Expertos en Producción Caprina in Granada, the IV Congreso Ibérico de Recursos Genéticos Animales in Portugal, the 2025 European Regional Conference of the International Goat Association and the REGAD congress hosted by Colombia in 2025. In the interview, Diego recalls that the MICHELIN Guide’s jury “tried a dish with matured goat that was the boldest thing we served in the restaurant, a dish in which we showed our identity.” And there is a sequel: work is now under way on characterising kid carcasses at six and twelve months, seeking a homogeneous, high-quality product and the full use of the animal, including hides, horns and offal. The new project brings in the culinary consultant and chef Juan Carlos Clemente, a native of La Gomera who has lived in Tenerife for many years and is already curing meat with this technique, and the executive chef of the restaurant El Secreto de Chimiche, Diana Marcelino.
Read the full piece on Pellagofio: “A cured goat tartare is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten”.
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