Picanha - what cut of beef is REALLY the South American 'Picanha'?!
I've been researching this for awhile now. My in-laws are from Brazil and we often times like to eat at the chuhascarias (Brazilian Steak House) where our favorite cut is called 'Picanha'. I want to try and make this at home, but the information regarding what cut of beef it really is makes it difficult to get the right cut. Most searches for 'Picanha' say that it is the Tri-Tip (of Bottom Sirloin) - but when I look at all of the chuhascaria websites (Fogo De Chao, etc) they are calling the Pincanha a 'Prime Top Sirloin'. One wikipedia page even referred to it as a 'Rump Cover'. So, any butchers out there or South American meat connoisseurs that know what cut the Picanha really is? Tri-tip? Top Sirloin Petite? Rump Cover? Someone PLS HELP!
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
In Brazil, they butcher cattle into different pieces than they do in the US, who butcher beef into different pieces than they do in Britain, and so on and so on....it is likely there IS no directly-equivalent cut (unless you buy a whole or half-cow and have it butchered according to your instructions), so you are stuck with using the closest cut you can find...
http://www.cucabrazuca.com/barbecue-chur…
It's the tender, fatty bit in the middle. We don't eat that in England. ;)