This relatively inexpensive cut of meat has a great flavor and very little fat. Cut from the bottom sirloin, this roast normally got ground into hamburger. Legend has it that In the late 1950’s, the owner of a grocery store in Santa Maria, California, asked his butcher to find a new cut of meat that would put his market on the map. The “Santa Maria” steak was born. They soon renamed it the “tri-tip” because it has three corners. In Europe, they call it the “Triangle Roast.”
It became very popular and a little pricey in the last two decades, but it has recently come back to earth. A steer has only 2 of these, so it seems somewhat surprising that it doesn’t fetch more, given its taste and leanness.
