My favorite thing about the Central Coast or Tri-tip: Why it's so fanatastically delicious

From Wikipedia: "The tri-tip is a cut of beef from the bottom sirloin primal cut".

Before I arrived on the Central Coast, I had never heard of "tri-tip".  To be honest though, before I moved out of my mom's house, I wasn't all that familiar with cuts of meat besides what they served at Longhorn's.  And even then I rarely got past the Prime Rib.

But all that's behind me.  I have finally become a real Central Coaster (at least by my standards) because I can cook a tri-tip.

Our friend Michael was the one that cooked the first tri-tip for me besides what I've had at a restaurant. I remember thinking that if I could make one as good as he did, I would really feel like I belong.  Tri-tip, when done right, is tender, flavorful and just downright delicious.  It is the key ingredient to Santa Maria Style Barbecue, where they slow cook it just like in the south.  If you're from the south, have been to the south, or have heard of barbecue, you know that it's not the same as grilling.  Grilling is throwing some stuff on a grill to get those nice char marks.  Grilling can be anything from chicken to steak, vegetables, sweet potato, or even corn  (leave it in the husk and grill it, it is fantastic!).

Barbecue on the other hand is a learned skill.  It involves just the right cut of meat, rubs, sauces, mop sauces and sloooooow cooking.  I personally have never barbecued, but I'll get around to it eventually.

Trimmed Tri-tip

So back to the tri-tip.  When you buy a tri-tip you can get it trimmed or untrimmed.  Getting it trimmed is nice, but more expensive and its not all that hard to trim it yourself.  Trimming it involves cutting the layer of fat off of one side of the meat.  When you trim it yourself you can decide how much of that fat you want.  If you don't care you can leave it all on there and let the fat get nice and crispy and let it drip into your meat to keep it moist and tender.  However, it can lead to flare-ups on your grill so keep an eye on it.  I typically trim off as much of the fat as I can see.

The next step is to marinate it.  You can just put a rub on it if you want, but I like when it soaks up all the flavors after a nice soak in a juicy bath.

I've got a couple different recipes for you to try out.

Spicy Tri-tip Marinade:

3 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

I typically make this recipe for a 2-3lb tri-tip.  If you've got a bigger piece of meat, then you'll obviously need to make more.  Let it marinate at least overnight, but the longer you let it sit, the more flavor you'll get.  The marinade makes a nice sauce to baste your tri-tip in while its on the grill, just be careful about letting that sugar burn.

Pappy's collection of seasonings.

Sweet Tri-tip Marinade
Pappy's Choice Seasoning
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
juice from 2 limes

Cover that tri-tip in the Pappy's.  I mean cover it from end to end, on the sides, the top, the bottom, everywhere.  Make sure it is smothered in it.  Then put it in your marinating vessel (I use a ziploc bag).  Add the sauces and the lime.  I left this out for 1 hour at room temperature and it was just as tender and delicious as can be.  Using this recipe made the best tri-tip I have ever tasted.

If you're not in the mood to cook tri-tip, or just passing through, I recommend Firestone Grill in San Luis Obispo or Main Street Grill in Cambria.  I believe they are where I had my first tri-tip sandwiches on the Central Coast.  They give you a whole bunch of meat on a roll.  No fancy sauces, no vegetables, nothing to tarnish the delicousness that is tri-tip.  Most restaurants on the central coast have some kind of tri-tip on the menu.  Even SLO Pasty company has a tri-tip pasty!  Bet you won't find that in Wales.

My mom and sister said they can now find tri-tip cuts in their local grocery store in GA, so if you can't find it there, ask your butcher and I bet he can cut one. Then marinate it, grill it, and savor it.  It will be almost as good as vacationing here on the Central Coast!