Picanha is a tender cut of beef that comes from the back end of the steer. It has a thick blanket of fat, making it easier to cook. Thanks to this beautiful fat, the risk of error when grilling this meat is much lower than with other beef. And it is exactly this fat cap that is so very important when it comes to picanha.
Usually flavorful and juicy, picanha is most definitely worth getting your hands on, even if you have to travel across the city to that one and only Brazilian butcher carrying it.
While you can serve picanha at many of the Brazilian eateries and steakhouses in New York and across the country, perhaps you also want to cook it yourself at home, in which case you should be orienting toward Brazilian communities or a Brazilian market.
There are regular supermarkets selling whole primal cuts, which would allow you to cut picanha yourself, but you should check with the manager at your local store for availability or the possibility to have them cut the beef for you.
It’s a lot easier nowadays to purchase whole top sirloin butt as opposed to years ago, but having the cuts you want is, of course, much better. Some facilities make it easier for people to purchase lots of cuts on a prearranged order, so if you know of any such custom slaughter facility in your area, you might want to give it a shot.
Picanha is also exported nowadays from Brazil and Argentina and sold in the U.S. in vacuum packs. It’s usually wet-aged beef that weighs no more than 1.5 kg.
Cooking picanha – grill over oven
Roasting picanha in the oven is an option, but if you want to enjoy picanha Brazilian style, then grilling is the way to cook.
You can grill the easy way, which is to use the grill and the utensils you already own, even a gas grill if that is the only one available, or you can opt to put in some more effort and get the most out of the beef. Especially if you’ve never had picanha before, the effort is worth it.
Assuming you’ve already sourced a good cut, here is the Brazilian way to grill picanha.
- Use the best charcoal you can find or make a wood fire if possible because this is going to have a positive impact on the end result.
- Light the charcoal using newspaper, which you can drizzle with cooking oil to have it burn longer, and sugar-cane alcohol. If possible avoid using lighter fluid or briquettes.
- Grill some sausages beforehand to have a decent amount of fat dripping over the fire, which helps get a good charcoal fire going.
- Apply crisscross cuts to the blanket of fat on the picanha to prevent curling while the meat grills. Because it’s rather big, picanha should be cut into 3 equal parts before placing on a skewer.
- The best way to cut picanha is perpendicular to the fibers running through the meat. Once this is done properly, each piece should be placed on the oiled skewer by bending it into a semicircle, such that the fat is on the outside.
- You can also cut picanha into thick pieces if you don’t have a skewer and grill home-style. In this case, cutting is done in the same direction as the fibers, and only when serving the meat, the cut is across the fibers.
- Coat the steak pieces in coarse salt to seal in the juices and avoid marinating the meat or using any other flavors. Picanha is meat flavorful enough and doesn’t need any added ingredient or spice.
- Finally grill away until the meat is done to your taste and don’t forget to knock off the excess salt before serving.