Meet Meat: The Tertiary Cuts

One thing I’ve learned is that there are probably as many cuts of “steak” as there are butcher shops. Everybody wants a rib-eye, tenderloin or striploin because we know them well: they are tender and require little more than salt, pepper and a hot grill.

When you deal with a whole side of beef, however, the prized cuts are usually sold before we even cut them. Yet, for every rib-eye or tenderloin there are a multitude of succulent, flavourful steaks still awaiting your discovery.

The so called “butchers’ cuts,” or the tertiary cuts, have gained a lot of popularity over the last few years in North America thanks to restaurants featuring them on menus and celebrity chefs using them in recipes. These cuts became the favourite of butchers for a couple of important reasons: they’re relatively inexpensive, and they pack much more flavour than the big three steaks. With a little sense of adventure and a little know how, buying and cooking some of the lesser known steaks can yield a fantastic–and more flavourful–result.

Hanger Steak, a.k.a.: onglet (France), skirt (UK), arrachera (Mexico)
The Hanger has become quite elusive in recent years partly because it has gained huge popularity with restaurant chefs and also because you only get about one and half pounds of hanger from a 700-lb steer. It is naturally tender and packed full of rich, intense flavour. There are two separate muscles that make up a hanger that are connected by a thick inedible piece of connective tissue which your butcher should always remove. This cut of meat absorbs flavour really well which makes it a great candidate for marinating. However, my favourite way to eat hanger is grilled rare to medium rare, sliced thinly against the grain and finished with a squeeze of lime in a corn tortilla with cilantro and avocado.

Flatiron, a.k.a.: butler’s steak (UK), top blade steak
A Toronto butcher recently did a blind tasting to find the more tender cuts and found the flatiron to be second only to the tenderloin. Cut from the shoulder, the flatiron sits on the top side of the shoulder blade.

Flatiron: intense marbling, great flavour.

Similar to hanger, it is characterized by a thick, inedible piece of connective tissue running through the middle which we always remove before it hits the counter. It has very intense marbling and great flavour. When it comes to cooking, the possibilities are endless. I’ve used it sliced for sandwiches, cut in strips to stir-fry or just eaten it as is. I find this steak is best when cooked to medium.

Bavette, a.k.a.: flap steak; vacio (Argentina)
More commonly known in North America as “flap steak,” we prefer to use the French term because really, who wants to eat a “flap”? The bavette is found in the abdomen and sits just above the flank and below the tenderloin. It is a well-used muscle and therefore has really intense flavour, so it has quickly become my favourite cut to grill.

Some knowledge of the bavette will make it a great piece of grilled meat.

Unless you know what you’re doing with a bavette though, it can be incredibly tough. The secret is in the slicing: it has a very strong grain and must be sliced thinly against that grain to make it tender to the bite. When cooked to medium rare or medium and properly sliced, I would challenge anyone to find me a more satisfying cut of beef.

Tri-Tip, a.k.a: bottom sirloin, picanha (Brazil), tafelspitz (Austria)
The tri-tip has long been a centerpiece of the barbeque cultures of both Brazil and Argentina. Europeans tend to leave it whole and roast or boil it. In California, it is typically cut into smaller steaks and grilled.

Cut from the bottom part of the sirloin, the tri-tip is prized for its natural leanness and big flavour. It’s easy to understand where the name comes from when looking at it because it is basically a triangle. It is a staple in California and southwestern U.S. and only recently has it started to make an appearance in Canada. We like to sell it as a whole piece and suggest grilling or smoking it slowly.

Tri-tip is a California and southwest U.S. staple. Just call ahead!

This is a great piece to have when you’re cooking for three or four people because you can cook it as one piece and then slice it and divide it among your guests. We always suggest calling ahead if you’re looking for the tri-tip because we almost always have it sold before it even comes available.

Next time you’re in the market for some steak, seek out something different for a change. Ask your butcher what he has that’s interesting and what to do with it and you could be pleasantly surprised by what you’ve been missing.