Pan-fried rumptail with creamy peppercorn and Port sauce

Yes, Port. From Porto. Luckily I found myself in Portugal (not in Porto but you can buy their Port all over), but you can use our own South African Port, especially those magnificent ones from the Klein Karoo.

I know we’re not supposed to call it Port any more even though it is exactly that style of fortified wine. So our producers may not call it that on their labelling. But are you going to be dictated to about your choice of the words that come out of your mouth? Me neither. So, repeat after me: Port, Port, Port…

I became a massive fan of picanha the first time I cooked a slab of this back end of beef, right near the tail, with its generous fat cap. I first wrote about it in the early TGIFood days.

Finding picanha in shops became hit and miss. Then I noticed that it was sometimes being labelled rumptail, and my educated guess is that this was because many people didn’t know what picanha was, whereas “rumptail” makes it pretty clear.

Now I see that picanha (which is a triangular single muscle, whereas regular rump can contain parts of as many as five muscles) is being cut into smaller pieces — portions of picanha rather than the whole muscle — which defeats the object in one way. 

Traditionally, it is a braai favourite in Brazil, where a popular way to cook it is first to grill it whole, for that fat cap to sizzle and turn crunchy and golden, then turn it over for a few minutes. Then, it goes on to a chopping board to be sliced into steaks, which are seared on both sides back on the coals.

The portions of picanha now being sold as rumptail have already been cut, which is a pity. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be turned out perfectly. So I had a go — always the best way to find out.

It wasn’t braai weather, so I grilled the rumptail in one piece in a pan on the stove. Its weight was 600g, so my intention was to fry it in my carbon steel French pan, let it rest, then slice it for two of us to share. It turned out perfectly.

As you can see in the photo, it was pretty rare. It was also delicious. But you can of course take it a bit further if you like.

But, apart from this excellent piece of beef, this was just as much about the peppercorn and Port sauce I made to go with it.

I used quite a lot of butter, because it brings out the best in beef, as it does with onions, and it becomes a base flavour of the entire peppercorn sauce in the process.

Tony’s pan-fried rumptail with creamy peppercorn and Port sauce

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

600g (give or take) rumptail, in one piece

3 Tbsp butter for the steak

A splash of cooking oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 Tbsp butter for the onions

1 glass of red wine

200ml chicken stock

1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns

1 Tbsp crushed black peppercorns

50ml Port

200ml cream

Salt to taste

Method

Start a few hours before you’re ready to cook. Pat the rumptail dry all over and salt it well. Put it on a plate in the fridge, and remove it an hour before you’re ready to cook.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a pan and add the onions and garlic. Simmer, stirring, until the onions begin to take on colour.

Add a glass of red wine and reduce by half on a moderate bubble.

Add the chicken stock and all the peppercorns and repeat. Season with salt to taste.

Add the Port and simmer gently for a few minutes, then pour in the cream and cook on a gentle bubble until the sauce thickens of its own accord. It will develop a sheen and look exceedingly yummy. Taste and adjust salting if needed.

Keep the sauce to one side while you put a pan on a very hot flame and melt 3 Tbsp butter. Add a touch of cooking oil, which helps prevent the butter from burning.

Put the steak in the pan fat side down and grill it hard for several minutes for that fat cap to turn golden and wonderful. Turn and cook the other side, stopping when it’s done to your taste. It’s always best to stop sooner than later with steak, as it goes too far in a flash.

Reheat the sauce and serve with a nice potato side dish such as these shoestring chips. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the year award, in 2021 and 2023.

Order Tony’s book, foodSTUFF, here.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.