Chef Bolek's Picanha with Chancho en Piedra

My love for churrasco -- that is, beef grilled over an open fire -- often leads me to places like Fogo de Chao or Texas de Brazil. It also leads me to seek out smaller, family owned churrascarias or other Brazilian and Argentinian restaurants. Those dining experiences, especially the ones at the large chain restaurants, often involve one server after another carrying a skewer of grilled meat.  There is the server with costela (or beef ribs), followed by the server with beef ancho (or ribeye), the server with fraldinha (bottom sirloin), the server with alcantra (top sirloin), and then the server with filet mignon. However, there is always one server that I try to find in the restaurant ... the person with the picanha or what is also referred to as the sirloin cap or cullote. 

However, my efforts to find picanha outside of a national chain restaurant, or even a smaller family-run restaurant, had encountered some difficulty. This particular cut is not one that is typically stocked on the shelves of a supermarket. One has to dig a little deeper and work a little harder to find it. This work necessarily involves identifying a trusted butcher. Fortunately, for me, there is one -- Chop Shop Butchery -- which I highly recommend. A simple question - do you have picanha - led to the purchase of a very nice cut of meat. 

That cut is identifiable by the strip of fat along the top, which, when grilled properly, helps to baste and  flavor the meat. The story of picanha can be traced back to the Bixziga neighborhood of Sao Paulo, Brazil during the 1950s. The cut did not make its way onto a menu until Dinhos offered a roasted picanha. The cut took off in Brazil and eventually made its way (along with Brazilian immigrants) to Portugal and then to the United States. 

The preparation of picanha is rather simple: flaky sea salt is really all that is needed before cooking the meat. The meat is roasted on a spit in Brazil or grilled in Argentina, and, either way, it can be cut into smaller pieces or the whole cut could simply be roasted. Given it was my first time, and recognizing that I probably did not have the right skewers to spit roast the meat, I decided to roast the whole cut. I seasoned the cut with sea salt, but I also used some merken especial, a chile rub used by the Mapuche, to provide a smoky kick to the meat. I grilled it to 135 degrees, well short of the 145 degrees for medium rare, given the shape of the cut. This approach ensured that the narrower edge of the cut would not be overcooked. 

My version of Chancho en Piedra

Finally, when one serves picanha or any grilled meat as part of a churrasco, it is accompanied by a chimichurri sauce.  I have made many a chimichurri sauce in my time. There are a few recipes on this blog, like this one and these two. So, I can say that a chimichurri is my own go-to sauce for grilled or roasted meats. However, for this occasion, I wanted to do something different. 

My search led me to pebre, which is a Chilean condiment made with cilantro, olive oil, onion, garlic and chiles. If one adds freshly chopped tomatoes to their pebre, it becomes chancho en piedra (which translates to "pig on a rock"). This salsa-like side is traditionally prepared using a molcajete or a mortar and pestle to create a consistency that looks more like a sauce. However, I have seen versions where the chancho en piedra has more texture, akin to a chunky-like salsa. I generally prefer the latter when it comes to salsa, so I opted with that approach. I also substituted one of the green chiles for 1/2 tablespoon of merken especial to tie the side with the grilled meat. These modifications resulted in a side that seemed, in my humble opinion, was a better accompaniment for slices of grilled picanha. 

CHEF BOLEK'S PICANHA WITH CHANCHO EN PIEDRA

Picanha recipe adapted from Barbecue Bible

Chancho en Piedra receipt from Food Comas

Serves several

Ingredients (for the picanha):

• 2 pound slab of picanha (top sirloin) with 1/2 inch of fat on top
• Merken especial
• Coarse salt (sea or kosher)

Ingredients (for the Chancho en Piedra)

• 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 green chiles, seeded and finely diced or 1 tablespoon Merken
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tomato, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions:

1. Prepare the Chancho en Piedra. In a bowl, add the oil, garlic, onion, coriander, tomatoes, chiles (or merken) and veingar. Add the salt and pepper to taste. If necessary, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Set aside.

2. Prepare the picanha and the grill. Cut the picanha crosswise (across the grain) into slices that are 1.5 inches thick. Dust the picanha with merken on all sides. Set aside while you set up the grill for direct grilling. Heat the grill to high. Brush and oil the grill grate.

3. Grill the picanha. Arrange the meat pices fat side down on the grill. Direct grill until fat is partially rendered, crisp, and brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Turn each piece of meat on its side and grill until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Grill the bottom the same way. You are looking for medium rare. An instant read thermometer inserted into the narrow end to the center of the meat should read about 125 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Finish the dish. Transfer the picanha to a cutting board, fat side up and let rest for a couple of minutes. Carve it into thin slices across the grain, including a bit of fat and a bit of meat in each slice. Serve with the Chancho en Piedra.

P.S. While writing this post, I discovered that there is also Chancho en Piedra, the Chilean experimental, funk band. Their music is actually pretty catchy. My only regret - apart from not being able to speak Spanish - is that I did not learn about this band earlier. I could have played the music in the background while preparing chancho en piedra, the sauce.

PEACE.