What Cut Of Beef Is Coulotte Steak?
Did you know that there's a cut of steak that resembles a New York Strip in shape, but is less expensive, more lean, and has all the beefy flavor of a sirloin? We're talking about the coulotte, whose name is thought to come from the French word for "cul," meaning backside, and refers to the muscle in the cow's hindquarters. This cut goes by many other names, including top sirloin cap and sirloin cap steak. The reason you've probably tasted sirloin steak but may have never heard of the coulotte is because of the way American butchers tend to trim and divide the sub-primal cut of beef, known as the sirloin. Go to Brazil, however, and you will immediately be made aware of Picanha, the so-called "queen of steaks," which is basically the sirloin cap still topped with its generous layer of fat, grilled on skewers over charcoal, and seasoned simply with salt.
There's not much difference between a coulotte and Picanha steak. The triangular-shaped coulotte and Picanha roasts are essentially the top sirloin butt, taken from the loin primal cut (the area between the short loin and the round). Not only is the meat deeply flavorful, the fatty cap melts into buttery deliciousness.
You'll probably have to order coulotte from a butcher
Though people in more northern climates are getting wise to the coulotte cut, don't expect to go to your supermarket and see a steak by that name in the butcher's section. Instead, it'll be called something like top sirloin steak, with the cap fat having already been trimmed away. You'll probably need to ask your butcher to cut coulotte steaks to order, but this shouldn't be a problem.
Look for a steak that's thick enough to grill — say, 1¼ to 1½ inches. Keep as much of the fatty top layer on as possible; you can trim it to your liking when you get home. The meat itself will, by contrast, be quite lean (though more marbled than a filet mignon) and will cook up as tender as it is flavorful. (Oh, and it's entirely possible to order dry-aged coulotte steaks online for those with more of a budget for their cuts.)
Cooking up a coulotte steak
Remember that fat is flavor, and the fat of the coulotte is a beautiful asset. You'd normally think that leaving that much fat on a steak would be wasteful or gross, but not in this case — as it renders, it adds both tenderness and flavor. You can trim the fat to your liking (try to leave at least a quarter inch for tenderness) and cut cross hatches on it, so the steak will hold its shape while cooking. You can also skewer the steaks if you like, Brazilian-style, and season generously with salt and whatever else strikes your fancy. Grill and broil as you would any other steak of a comparable size.
A sublime meal can be made with a charcoal-grilled coulotte steak accompanied by a simple chimichurri sauce — that green, herbal, tangy Argentinian gift to the world made from olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, parsley, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Top it off with a dark red glass of earthy Malbec — could you imagine a better pairing?