Product of the Month: Ummera Smoked Picanha Beef
This month’s Product of the Month: Ummera Smoked Picanha Beef is a homage to food innovation. For any company, coming up with new ideas and products can be heartbreaking. Not so for Anthony Creswell who started off with salmon as so many smoke houses did but has added different products to his range over the years (please try his smoked duck brea
st).
So, when I met him a few weeks back by accident while having lunch in L’Atitude 51 my first question was of course ‘What’s new?’ and with no surprise on my part did Anthony opened his box of magic and offered me a sliver of smoked beef. I have to mention here that he was delivering the meat to L’Atitude and the sliver came from their own portion (hence just a sliver). I liked the subtle flavour a lot but couldn’t say much about the texture and parked the thought of it in the back of my head.
The other day, the charming Mr T and I had a meeting near Bandon and as it is my habit, we popped into Urru for a bit of lunch. Over a delicious Leek & Parmesan soup and a Farmhouse Cheese Sandwich, I discovered that Ruth stocked the smoked beef.
And here is the proper product review:
Product of the Month: Ummera Smoked Picanha Beef
First off, Picanha is not a type of beef but a cut favoured in Brazil. You could also call it rump cap but let’s face it, Picanha sounds so much better. The beef rump cap is the part of the rump derived from the D-rump, by separating the roast beef and the ru
mp cap. It’s very tasty and tender when prepared just right. The beef is hot-smoked which gives it a texture similar to spiced beef. The colour is greyish brown with the fat being a warm off-white shade. The flavour is – as mentioned before – subtle enough so that it doesn’t overpower the gentle flavour of the beef. It is easy to slice and should be served either as part of the charcuterie board or as a salad, maybe with fresh leaves and poached pears. Tasting the beef, it came at no surprise that Ummera won the ‘Best New Product’ award at the National Organic Awards in 2016
When we arrived home with our treasures from Urru, we made the mistake offering a piece to Mr T Jr. and that was the last I saw from the beef as both Mr Ts put their heads together and with the knife in their hand I didn’t dare tryig to squeeze in between to grab another piece. Gone were my dreams of a lovely supper that evening – both faces looked a bit like the cat got the cream.
This is a premier product and the price mirrors the quality of the beef which comes from the farm of John Purcell in Co. Tipperary. I can see chefs taking to this product as it adds an unique dimension to starters etc. Home cooks can currently purchase the beef directly via Ummera’s website or by emailing Anthony on [email protected]. It will definitely make a re-appearance in my household.
Ummera Picanha Beef – Photo from Ummera Website
Disclaimer: I have purchased the product myself at full retail price. Anthony Creswell has been made aware of this review.
