Summer Steak Series: How to Order and Grill a Picanha

It’s time for part two of Edify’s summer steak series. (Our first featured cut was a Denver.) We want you to look beyond the sirloin with this series, and get to know your local butcher shop to boost your grill skills. Don’t waste your efforts on gristly meat when quality is within reach.

For our second steak cut, we checked in with an expert to ask about how to cook a picanha. It turns out, it’s a steak of many names!

What is it?

The picanha (pee-KAHN-yah) is a cut that comes from the top of the animal’s rump. “That’s what it’s called in Brazil, where it’s really popular,” says David Van Leewen of Ben’s Meats. He’s the third-generation owner of the meat shop that has been the family’s business since his grandfather opened it in the 1950s. Van Leewen started working there part time in 1986, studied meat cutting at NAIT and bought out his parents in 1999. So when he talks about this steak, you know you’ve got to listen

“I usually call it an American tri-tip, but it’s a totally different cut than a tri-tip in Canada, which to me is basically grind.”

Sometimes this cut is called a culotte steak. Technically it’s “top sirloin cap,” Van Leewen says. “It’s a beautifully marbled, beautifully tender piece of meat.”

To ease your burden in coping with all its names, we’re calling it by its Brazilian name, picanha, because it feels fancy. But whatever you call it, you are unlikely to find it in a supermarket; a butcher shop is your best bet.

What to ask for at the butcher shop

Most butchers will understand what you are talking about if you order picanha, but if you ask for a “top sirloin cap,” make sure to specify that you want it with its fat cap still attached. This layer of fat bastes the meat as it cooks, adding flavour upon flavour.

“I recommend you order your steaks cut to about an inch and a quarter thick,” Van Leewen says. A half-inch fat cap should run along the top of each steak. This thickness is perfect for grilling.

At $45 a kilo, it’s reasonable, he says. “It’s just as good as a ribeye and has no gristle.”

How to cook it

First, the hard way. If you are grilling this cut Brazilian-style, start by preparing a grill with charcoal, preferably from wood, and bringing the meat to room temperature. Then pat the steaks dry, and working one at a time, season and fold them over into crescent shapes, with the fat cap on the outside of the fold. Add each folded steak to a heavy metal skewer stacking them crosswise, and grill them together over the prepared charcoal grill, until they read medium rare on a meat thermometer (about 130 F to 135 F).

But you can make a picanha a little more simply. When Van Leewen prepares this cut at home, he fires up his grill. “I start with a pretty high temperature, season the steak and sear both sides for about one and a half to two minutes,” he says. “Then I move it to the top warming rack. Because it’s off the grill, and it’s like finishing it in the oven.” He leaves the steak on the top rack for about five minutes a side, until it’s medium rare. “Then pull it out and let it rest for a few minutes before serving,” he says.

If you want to keep with the South American vibe, serve this steak with some chimichurri sauce. Add a cup of olive oil, a quarter cup of lemon juice or white wine vinegar (or a combo of the two), two to four garlic cloves, and a cup of fresh parsley (or a mix of parsley and cilantro) to a blender. Add salt and pepper and purée it. Serve alongside the steak in a little pitcher or a bowl with a serving spoon. You’re welcome.

Ben’s Meats
Poundmaker Industrial | 10516 184 St NW, Edmonton | bensmeats.com