Halperns creates Pork Picanha for Giraffas

Giraffas

Pork Picanh

Staff Atlanta Business Chronicle

A never-before-seen cut of pork is now in the United States thanks to Atlanta-based Halperns’ Purveyors of Steak & Seafood and some nudging from Brazilian grill chain Giraffas. Brazilians love the “Picanha” cut of beef for its tenderness and flavor, but it’s an exotic cut for American butchers. It’s basically the rump cover, or coulotte.

Now, there’s a Pork Picanha in America on the menu through December at Giraffas.

“Up until now the Picanha has only been known in the U.S. as a beef item,” Giraffas President and CEO Rene Prats said. ”The Picanha has never been seen or tasted in pork in the U.S. before.“ Orlando, Fla.-based Giraffas has worked with Halperns’ Purveyors of Steak & Seafood to create the Pork Picanha cut from scratch -- the Meat Buyers Guide contains every conceivable meat cut in all of the main species and has no reference or item number for the Pork Picanha.

“Rene guided us as to what would be ideal for the Giraffas’ customers,” Kirk Halpern said. “As something that never before existed, we were working from scratch. Flavor, tenderness, trim as well as fast cook times all had to be factored in.”