GUI: This is the queen of the Brazilian barbecue; the picanha.

It's a part of the cattle that's on top on the rear section, so it doesn't do any work.

SETH: Hence all the fat.

GUI: Exactly.

And it gives the special flavor of the picanha.

SETH: All right, so how do you get this prepared for the barbecue?

GUI: So if we flip it around, we can see that we have some excess fat here and some silver skin.

We can go ahead and start taking those off.

So taking the excess of fat here on the sides.

SETH: That's a really nice white, creamy fat there.

GUI: That's what we look for.

SETH: And so why do you think it is that Brazilians just fell in love with this particular cut of meat?

GUI: Because we discovered it.

It's in every single cow, but we found it and it became popular in Brazil and also the Portuguese people took it from Brazil to Europe and then it became so popular in Europe.

Now, the last few years it became very popular in the United States as well.

All right, so let me take this extra fat here and silver skin.

And what we're going to do, we're going to cut it into steaks across the grains.

SETH: All right.

GUI: So we go ahead and cut it like this.

SETH: And there's a decent amount of marbling in that.

GUI: It is.

SETH: More than I expected to see.

GUI: There is.

Yes, there is.

So now we have all the steaks cut that we want on this picanha.

So we like the fat, but not as much.

SETH: Yep.

Are there some people who don't like to see any fat on there, on the picanha?

GUI: Yes, unfortunately, but we have to respect, but I think you lose some of the... SETH: It breaks your heart a little bit.

GUI: It does.

SETH: Okay.

GUI: Let me go ahead and discard this extra fat so we can season it.

SETH: And what do you season it with?

GUI: It's just sea salt.

SETH: That's it?

GUI: Yeah.

In Portuguese we call it sal grosso and we want to go ahead and put a good amount all around.

SETH: Oh, yeah.

Nice little crust right there.

GUI: All the sides.

Yeah.

I'm going to go ahead and trim and season the rest of these.

SETH: All right, just an explosion of salt and meat.

Those are beautiful steaks, chef.

GUI: Thank you.

So why don't you go ahead and follow me so we can put it on the grill.

SETH: Let's do it.

All right.

This is a good spot to be on a cold day, chef.

GUI: Oh, yes, it is.

SETH: And I see you got some more that are already seasoned up and ready to go.

GUI: Ready.

Yeah.

I'm going to go ahead and get the steaks that we prepared and put it over here.

SETH: And these baskets will allow you to get nice and close to the flames.

GUI: Yeah.

So we can go ahead and move these over here now.

So we do want the Maillard reaction to happen so we can get all the flavor that we need... SETH: Got it.

GUI: For the best picanha.

SETH: What do you do to keep the coals a nice, consistent temperature?

GUI: So I have my blower here, which helps getting oxygen into the coals so we can make sure the ash is not suffocating our flames so the fire is nice and hot, nice and strong.

So at this point we're going to have some flames coming up.

SETH: Oh, yeah.

GUI: We want flames, but not too much.

So I have my water spray here just to control the flames so it doesn't burn.

SETH: And, chef, uh, the one thing that this Brazilian barbecue is missing are swords.

Why do you choose to use the baskets?

GUI: So I don't puncture holes on my, on my steaks because that's a point to release the juice from the meat.

SETH: And we do not want that.

We want the juice to stay inside the meat.

GUI: And that's why we sear it.

SETH: No marketing gimmicks here, chef.

GUI: I flipped because we don't want to burn.

So let's get started on the other side and then we flip it back so we can finish off.

You can see that I don't use a tong, so I like to touch the meat.

So, so, touching, I am able to tell the temperature, oh you see this is the crust that we're looking for.

See?

SETH: Oh, wow.

GUI: The caramelization from the sugars inside of the meat.

Yeah.

So now we're going to stand up.

So you want to sear the fat as well.

See.

We like fat, but the fat has to be cooked as well.

SETH: And I like the way the fat is just dripping onto the coals and just feeding that fire right there.

GUI: Yep.

And that smoke means flavor to the meat.

SETH: Of course.

Does your family make you do all the barbecuing for family functions as well?

GUI: Always.

Always.

SETH: You never get a break?

GUI: Yeah, no I don't.

When you hear about barbecue, family, friends, church events, um, you know, it's all about Gui cooking the meat.

SETH: Clearly better you than me.

GUI: Now that these have a nice crust, we're going to go ahead and slice them off, with the grain now, so we can finish it off on the grill to be ready to serve so we can have that nice crust on both sides.

So we'll go ahead and serve them along with our authentic Brazilian side dishes that we offer.

SETH: All right, chef, this is a family affair you got going.

You weren't joking.

GUI: Correct.

So yeah, here's my wife Fabi.

She cooks all the dishes, the side dishes and helps me run the business.

My sons, Anthony and Benjamin.

SETH: Aspiring gauchos?

GUI: Yeah.

And the kids love to be around.

They are already learning.

SETH: Why would you not want to be hanging around this spot?

FABI: Right.

SETH: Well, I am excited to try some picanha.

Mm.

Wow, I love that.

The meat is so juicy and that fat, it just melts in your mouth.

There's no sinew, there's nothing you have to kind of bite through.

That's just pure bonus flavor.

And I love the crust that this got on as well.

GUI: Yeah, so the crust gives that explosion of taste.

The Maillard reaction gives the flavor mixed with the smoke from the coals, so that's why it's so important to get the fire on the right temperature.

SETH: And is there a little dipping sauce here as well?

GUI: Oh yeah.

That's our signature sauce.

The Pit sauce.

FABI: It's a homemade mayonnaise.

It's lots of cilantro, garlic, vinegar and a little extra stuff.

SETH: Not that there's any spice to this, but a little cool refreshing dip to put the meat in as well.

That's really nice.

And are these the rest of these sides, these are things that you would find typically with Brazilian barbecue?

GUI: Yeah, everything is made by us from scratch.

FABI: Please serve yourself with the farofa.

This is a most authentic Brazilian dish and it has onions, bacon, lots of butter, and the cassava flour, which is very unique and gives a little crunch to your food, so we usually dip the meat on the farofa to get that crunch.

SETH: If there wasn't already enough of a crust on that meat, add a little extra with the cassava.