Picanha

In Brazil, the most prized cut of meat tends to be the picanha. There the traditional preparation is to skewer the meat and cook it over a charcoal grill, with seasoning consisting of just coarse sea salt.^[5] The fat is retained until the steak has been cooked.

The same cut is the pointe de culotte in French butchery, but in French cuisine, the fat cap is heavily trimmed. In modern French cuisine, it is a Morceau de 1ère Catégorie and is generally roasted or cut into steaks and grilled. Until the early 20th century, it was the preferred cut for boeuf bourgignon and boeuf à la mode, often larded,^[6] as well as for boiling in a pot-au-feu.^[7]

Although already known in Portugal as a part of alcatra,^[8][9] the cut and its association with grilling in Portugal was popularized by Brazilian immigrants and Brazilian restaurants starting in the end of the 20th century, taking advantage of the United Kingdom BSE outbreak of the 1990s.^[10][11] Picanha is served in restaurants^[12] and is widely available in supermarkets and butchers, both fresh and packaged under vacuum.^[13] It is produced mostly within the European Union (Republic of Ireland and Poland)^[14] but also imported from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.^[15][16][17]

In the United States until recently the cut was little known and often named top sirloin cap, rump cover, rump cap, or coulotte (after culotte). American butchers generally divide this cut into other cuts like the rump, the round, and the loin.^[18] Unlike in Brazil, the fat cap tends to be trimmed.^[19]

The term picanha is of unknown origin. It could be derived from the word picana, which was a pole used by ranchers in the southern parts of Portugal and Spain, particularly in the Alentejo, for herding cattle.^[20]

Picanha can be prepared on the grill, in the oven, on the stovetop, in a frying pan, or sous vide with a variety of spices and accompaniments.^[21][22]

• Churrasco
• Tafelspitz, an Austrian and Bavarian preparation of the same cut by boiling or simmering
• List of Brazilian dishes