The picanha steak (also known as the coulotte or coulotte steak) is a hard-to-find cut of beef that’s well worth the search. It is triangular in shape and considered to be the most delectable meats for the grill in Brazilian steakhouses.
The picanha steak (also known as the coulotte or coulotte steak) is triangular shaped with a tender American Wagyu sirloin steak texture and rich, juicy beef flavor. We cut our picanha in the traditional style with the fat cap still attached, so it gently bathes the meat with its savory essence and keeps the meat moist and tender. Our American Wagyu picanha comes with generous marbling for a distinctive flavor and delicious complexity. Delicious roasted whole, sliced into steaks or skewered and served with chimichurri for a taste of Brazil at home.
Beef Grading 101
The picanha is American Wagyu Black Grade, rated 6 to 8 on the Japanese Beef Marbling Score (BMS)
Beef sold in the U.S. is graded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are eight total grades and the top grade is USDA Prime.
All Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef grades above Prime. Special breeds of cattle like Japanese Wagyu are capable of producing marbling beyond their American counterparts. To grade this high level of marbling, we adopted the Japanese Beef Marbling Score.
Using BMS, beef marbling is measured on a scale from 1 to 12, with a 1 being Select beef and a 12 being the highest level of marbling possible.
BMS 4 to 5 USDA Prime
BMS 6 to 8 SRF Black Grade
BMS 9+ SRF Gold Grade
Meatology
The picanha consists of the bicep femoris muscle, located in the sirloin primal. It is also called the top sirloin cap, rump cap, coulotte and culotte. It can be produced with the desirable fat cap or trimmed. The Snake River Farms picanha comes with the cap which adds flavor and visual appeal.
Fast fact: There are several stories behind the name “picanha” but here is one with some facts to back it up. Portuguese and Spanish ranchers immigrated to Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and used a pole called a picana for herding cattle. Picana was also the name for a branding iron. Animals were marked in the approximate region of the sirloin cap, so the name picanha was used to describe the cut.
