The cap of the top sirloin with its fat layer intact — the centrepiece of Brazilian churrasco and almost always sold in America with the one thing that makes it worth buying already trimmed off.
Picanha is the biceps femoris cap sitting on top of the sirloin, a triangular muscle of two to three pounds with a thick fat cap on one side. That fat cap is the cut: it renders during cooking and bastes the meat continuously, and Brazilian butchers leave it a good half-inch thick. American processors routinely trim it to a quarter inch or remove it entirely, which is why the cut sold as top sirloin cap in a US supermarket is a different and much less interesting product. The grain runs consistently in one direction across the triangle, which makes slicing straightforward — unlike tri-tip, where it changes.
Moderate marbling in the muscle, and a substantial external fat layer doing the work marbling would otherwise do. As the fat renders it runs over the surface and keeps it from drying, and it also carries a large part of the flavour, so the cut is noticeably better with the cap than without. The muscle itself is lean enough to want medium-rare and no further. The traditional churrasco method — folded onto a skewer with the fat facing out, rotated over coals, with the outer layer sliced off as it cooks and the rest returned to the fire — is a way of continuously exposing new surface to heat while the fat bastes everything behind it.
Rendering the cap slowly bastes the muscle, and a final blast crisps it into the best part of the cut.
HowScore the fat in a crosshatch without cutting into the meat, salt heavily an hour ahead. 250°F fat-side up to 120°F internal, forty-five minutes to an hour. Rest, then sear fat-side down in a hot pan or over coals for three to four minutes.
The traditional method, and it works because rotation keeps the rendering fat running back over the meat rather than dripping away.
HowCut into three or four thick steaks across the grain, fold each into a C with the fat outward, thread onto a skewer. Rotate over medium coals, slicing off the cooked outer layer as it browns and returning the rest to the fire.
The simplest approach, and each steak keeps a strip of the fat cap along one edge.
HowSlice across the grain into inch-and-a-half steaks, sear fat edge down first for two minutes to render, then flat sides three minutes each. Pull at 128°F.
A thick triangular roast benefits from an even climb, and the sear at the end handles both crust and fat cap.
How225°F to 118°F, then hard sear fat-side down. Rest fifteen minutes before slicing.
The fat cap is the entire cut. It renders throughout cooking and bastes a muscle that has only moderate marbling of its own, and it carries a large share of the flavour — a picanha trimmed to a quarter inch or bare is just a lean sirloin roast and will eat like one. Most American supermarkets trim it as a matter of course, and the label top sirloin cap usually means trimmed. Ask specifically for it with a half-inch cap and ask them not to trim it. The second error is slicing: the grain runs consistently across the triangle, and cutting steaks the long way rather than across it leaves the fibers full length and makes an otherwise tender cut chew like rope. Slice across the short axis of the triangle.
Brazilian and Latin butchers, and increasingly Costco and better shops, carry it with the cap on. Ask by name and specify you want the fat cap left at half an inch — if the counter says top sirloin cap, confirm the trim. Two to three pounds is a whole picanha; anything much larger came off an unusually big animal and may be tough. Look for a thick, even white cap and good colour in the muscle. It's usually priced between sirloin and ribeye, which for what it is makes it good value. Feeds four to six whole.
Doneness: 125-130°F pulled for medium-rare, resting to 130-135°F. The fat cap needs a final high-heat stage to crisp regardless of how the meat was cooked. Past 140°F the lean muscle dries.
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Because the muscle underneath has only moderate marbling, so unlike a ribeye it isn't self-basting from within. The cap renders continuously during cooking and runs over the meat, and it's where a large part of the flavour is concentrated. A picanha with a half-inch cap and one that's been trimmed bare are genuinely different eating. It's the single thing to check when buying.
Both are triangular sirloin-area roasts, and they get compared constantly. Picanha comes from the top sirloin with a fat cap; tri-tip from the bottom sirloin, leaner and usually trimmed. Tri-tip has the grain-direction change that makes carving tricky; picanha's grain runs consistently. Picanha is richer thanks to the cap, tri-tip is beefier and takes smoke better.
Across the grain, which on a picanha means cutting across the short axis of the triangle — the fibers run roughly parallel to the long edge. If you're cutting it into steaks before cooking, cut them the same way, so each steak has a strip of fat cap along one edge and the grain running across it. Then after cooking, slice each steak thin across the same direction.