Composed goat meat, old goat meat clothes, peppers stuffed with majorero cheese and goat meat, meatballs with goat broth, gofio scdy with the goat broth, goat cheese, and goat's casserole: the goat: theMenu prepared by José Luis Brito Méndez at the Valtarajal restaurant, in Betancuria, leaves no doubt about the main ingredient of his dishes.Ah, and for dessert, goat cheese cake.

To the Reina Ingredient, adds the form of preparation: in cauldron, in sauce and hours and hours to the low heat."I tell you the ingredients if you want and that everything in raw, but the combination and the tricks remain in the family," says José Luis (Betancuria, 1977).

From that cooking family of the father - the Brito Hernández - learned and savored the traditional recipes that he now repeats in the restaurant.In fact, neither a chef is considered, much less chef, «put me kitchenette, I am because I did not study for this and I only repeat the recipes that I saw prepare my father's family, my uncles, my cousins, to whom theyfun cooking and living it ».

To talk about the Valtarajal restaurant you have to start at the beginning: his father Lorenzo Brito Hernández bought the land in the old capital and built it, opening it in 1983."Valtarajal put him because he is the aboriginal place name of the Betancuria Valley and because our first house, where I was born, was on Valtarajal street».

In 1983, the first tourists began to discover the inner fuertura and the historical charm of Betancuria.«When my father opened, they just feed Amparito and Vicente.Germans began to arrive, Dutch, whom my father prepared cauldrilings and cauldrons of goat meat, majorero kid, majorero tomato salad, potatoes sanctioned with red mojo that stung a lot and French tortillas, I don't know why they loved so much".

From school, José Luis and his little brother Lorenzo left the father's bar, who sat them on the sack of potatoes to peel potatoes and garlic, to clean the peppers, “anticipating things while we played to see who of the two peeled and made plus.My mother left the City Council and also came to the restaurant.Of all those flavors, I remember as if it were today, even the bananas with bread that we gave to tourists ».In 1988, they put it for rent.

You have to make the jump until 2013 so that Brito decided to take the reins of Valtarajal.By then the child who peeled potatoes on a sack was 36 years old, the first of his two children, university studies and desire to change his job.«At first I went to trompicons because I came with a business idea that corresponds to the present.I let myself be advised, I learned from mistakes ».From that first letter, of course only goat meat and old goat clothes remain.

Good meat

The first thing is good meat, «if it is castrated, better, I no longer tell you if it is coast.Everything else is to take time: my father sometimes gets up at six in the morning to help me and leave the goat meat so that it is done over low heat ».Popes, family or local producer, as well as tomatoes, cheese and vegetables.

The José Luis Brito kitchen does not forget another 'ingredient' of the Valtarajal restaurant: Mayte Suárez Cabrera, the waitress, "who has a smile for all customers".