When we first opened the shop we had this steak called the coulotte. A delicious steak, to be sure, but it required some explaining because this is not a cut you’ll see at a grocery store. We sold a few and we ate a lot. It wasn’t catching on a quite as we had hoped. And then a funny thing happened: lots of customers started asking if we carried this one kind of Brazilian steak called the picanha. In fact we did, we just called it the coulotte.
Typically when customers begin asking for something en mass my assumption is that Oprah must have mentioned it on her show. “Everyone’s going home with their own steak!!!” But in this case it seemed that there’s a secret society of Brazil-o-philes that we had no idea about.
The picanha comes from the section where the sirloin meets the round. It has a healthy fat cap on it (especially on our grain finished Peterson cows) which adds to the deliciousness. This is a tender steak packed with a ton of flavor. We love it sprinkled with salt and with a crunchy sear on it.
Cook the fat side down first to render some fat and get the fat cap nice and crispy. 3 minutes direct on each side over a very hot fire should get the color you’re looking for. Move to the indirect heat and cook to medium rare. Let your steak rest for 10 minutes and slice against the grain.
Gold medal stuff, people.
