Picanha

Picanha is a fresh cut of beef that's especially popular and highly prized in Brazil. In the US, it's called sirloin cap, and in the UK, it's known as the rump cap. Picanha is situated on the back side of the animal, above the butt, where it sits on a fat cap.

It's mostly used for churrasco – the meat is first grilled, then sliced off of a skewer. This cut holds very little fat in the meat, so it must be cooked perfectly in order not to make it tough. In Brazil, every churrasco has picanha, and all of the best churrascarias feature picanha on their menus.

The name picanha is derived from the word picana, referring to the ranchers' pole used for herding cattle in Portugal and Spain. The technique was brought over to Brazil where the word picanha was used to refer to the part of the cow that was poked by ranchers with the pole.