The South American cuisine
The South American cuisine is very difficult to describe because of its great diversity of countries and people. This cuisine is characterised by Spanish and Portuguese influences, but it is also full of authentic flavours. Although the Picanha is quite unknown to us, it is extremely popular in South America, especially in Brazil. Brazil, together with Argentina and Uruguay, are known for their big BBQ parties, also known as 'asados'. These countries are therefore meat countries par excellence, due to the enormous amount of cattle that roam freely over the pampas.
Preparation of Picanha on the BBQ
For the preparation of the Picanha we use the Barbecook Kamal. We also use Barbecook’s digital thermometer. Always make sure that you put the pin of the thermometer in the middle of the meat and not near the bone or a piece of fat. As the Picanha is most delicious when it’s rare, we recommend a core temperature of 52 to 55°C.
Cut the fat layer of the Picanha crosswise. It is important that you don’t cut into the meat, but only in the fat layer. This ensures that the Picanha does not pull obliquely during grilling. Place the Picanha centrally on the grill and season with coarse sea salt and pepper. Grill the Picanha very briefly on all sides so that it can scorch nicely. It is important to put the grill on the lowest position so that the meat can scorch quickly in a direct way.
When the Picanha is nicely scorched, put the grid on the heighest position and let the Picanha cook slowly with the fat side up. For this, you can lower the temperature of your charcoal by reducing the air supply. Put the core thermometer horizontally in the thickest part of the Picanha and continue cooking until the correct core temperature of 52 to 55°C is reached. After this the Picanha can be removed from the grill and should rest for a while under aluminium foil. In the meantime you can grill some vine tomatoes briefly.
After this all you have to do is slice the Picanha. This can be done in the same way as a roast beef. Tasteful!
Finish your Picanha with chimichurri sauce
While we're in the South American spirit, we better go all the way with a delicious matching sauce: chimichurri! This sauce originated in Argentina and is the perfect match for your piece of grilled Picanha.
Ingredients: 100ml olive oil, four cloves of pressed garlic, one chopped half white onion, one finely chopped chilli pepper, three tablespoons red wine vinegar, two tablespoons fresh oregano, 100 gram of fresh parsley, pepper and salt, a few drops of honey and a squeezed half lemon.
To do: cut everything as finely as possible and mix. Use the Barbecook saucepan.
Which sides can you serve with the Picanha?
The Picanha can be perfectly combined with rice or puffed potatoes. For the veggies among us it also combines deliciously with a salsa of tomato and paprika with some olive oil and tabasco or black beans! Would you like something more special? Why not give the Hasselback potato a chance? Prepare this with Barbecook's Hasselback cutting set!
