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The sirloin is one of the most well-known cuts of meat in Italy.
The sirloin belongs to the first fundamental food group, as a source of high biological value proteins, vitamins - especially of the B group - and specific minerals - mainly bioavailable iron, phosphorus and zinc. Note : it is also a natural source of cholesterol, saturated fatty acids - although they are present in equal or even lower amounts than the unsaturated ones - of purine and amino acid phenylalanine - the latter two, nutritional elements contraindicated for hypersensitive subjects.
The portion and frequency of consumption of sirloin depend mainly on the possible presence of other meats - white meats, game, offal, etc. - eggs and fishery products, but also on the nutritional status of the subject; for example, a healthy person can safely consume 1-2 portions of 100-150 g of sirloin per week, in addition to eggs and fishery products in the same quantities. Conversely, an obese person, a hyperuricemic or hypercholesterolemic subject and those who are characterized by diseases of the digestive system, hepato-renal, etc., will have to decrease both.
The sirloin is univocally considered a good quality cut, or the right compromise between the very famous fillet and the back cuts - for example the rump, the ham or parts of it etc. It has a proportional cost, therefore of medium-high entity; however, as with all cuts of meat and not only, this depends above all on: the subspecies or the animal breed, the sex, the age, the nutritional status and the processing level (maturation).
Being naturally poor in connective tissue, despite being moderately stressed in the movements of the animal, the sirloin is quite tender, not too fat - although this can vary quite a lot based on trimming, breed and breeding method - and moderately digestible. In the kitchen it is mainly used to prepare second courses; this does not remove the fact that it can be an excellent quality ingredient for selected minced destined for sauces, meatballs, hamburgers, etc. It is suitable for intense and quick cooking, such as grilling, grilling and possibly in the pan. Being rather soft - as long as it is cooked the right way - it lends itself to being eaten "to the blood". With the pork sirloin, in this case more commonly referred to as loin, it is possible to produce a sausage sausage, unmilled, called lonzino.
The quality of the sirloin may not only depend on the raw material, but also on the processing. In fact, it is one of the cuts that, in beef, changes more following the maturation, or that sort of "mummification" that occurs leaving the whole loaf inside the cold room - at low temperature, just above 0 ° C - necessary to make dry the meat and let it mature superior taste and aroma. However, this results in a lower commercial yield of the meat, which dehydrates and requires greater cleansing before cooking - to discard the slightly unpleasant surface layer from the aromatic point of view - loses weight and increases in cost. This, which can also be useful for certain animals in the game group - so-called black meat - does not apply to other meats, such as pork or sheep.
With or without bone, the sirloin is often used for very popular beef-based recipes such as: cut (of entrecote), rib eye (with bone), Florentine steak (with fillet), T-bone and porterhouse - the latter two, very similar to the Florentine. From other animals, such as pigs or sheep, the sirloin constitutes: arista, lonza, carré, chop, etc.
Almost always used to indicate an anatomical segment of beef, sirloin is also widely used as a synonym for loin or loin - although, in reality, it is called sirloin any piece of meat that is on the opposite side of the vertebral transverse process. However, this means that, being a muscle group common to all animals of the Mammalia Biological Class, it can normally be derived from the creatures belonging to the Families: Suidae, Bovidae, Equidae and Cervidae .
From the anatomical point of view, the two sirloins - on the sagittal plane, positioned one on each side and separated by the spinous vertebral process - correspond "almost exclusively" to the lumbar muscles. By slaughtering the animal in two halves, the sirloins remain between the two quarters (front and back). Their prevalence on one side or the other mainly depends on the cutting technique.
Nutritional Properties
Nutritional properties of the sirloin
Seen from the first group, the sirloin is a food rich in high biological value proteins, specific vitamins and minerals.
It has a medium or high energy intake - depending on the species, breed, the state of nutrition and the level of cleansing of the superficial fat - but it can also fluctuate a lot according to the variables we mentioned above. What many people do not know is that, given the nutritional status of contemporary animals, the light pork sirloin has more or less similar characteristics to beef.
The sirloin calories are supplied mainly by proteins and lipids; carbohydrates are absent. Peptides have a high biological value, that is they contain all the essential amino acids in the right quantities and proportions with respect to the human model. Fatty acids are mainly unsaturated, especially monounsaturated, sometimes followed almost equally by the saturated; the polyunsaturated fats, consisting predominantly of omega 6, are the least significant fat portion.
Cholesterol is present in significant amounts but all in all acceptable - definitely lower than those of egg yolk, crustaceans, certain molluscs, offal, etc. The sirloin does not contain dietary fiber, gluten and lactose; if matured, it can mature small concentrations of histamine - especially outside. Instead it has significant amounts of purines and phenylalanine amino acids.
From the vitamin point of view, the sirloin is a food that does not differ from the average of the products belonging to the same category - meats. It contains above all water-soluble vitamins of group B, in particular niacin (vit PP), pyridoxine (vit B6) and cobalamin (vit B12); thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), pantothenic acid (vit B5), biotin (vit H) and folates are less relevant. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and all the fat-soluble (vit A, vit D, vit E, vit K) seem almost absent or almost irrelevant.
Even with regards to mineral salts, the sirloin does not stray too far from its group. The content of iron is good, but also of zinc and phosphorus; also brings potassium.
For more information on the chemical nutritional detail of the sirloin, read the article: loin.
Diet
Sirloin in the diet
The sirloin is a food that can be included in most diets, but not too frequently and systematically - especially considering that it must alternate with other foods of the same type of job: other meats (game, offal, poultry), products of peach (pinnute fish, crustaceans, molluscs) and eggs.
If obtained from a young animal, then lean, without the addition of condiments and well trimmed from the superficial fat - from animals of average age, therefore not mature - it could also be used in the diet of certain clinical conditions such as severe overweight and hypercholesterolemia. On the contrary, it would be advisable to prefer lean meats such as chicken, turkey, horse breast, lean fish, etc.
The sirloin, rich in high biological value proteins, is very useful in the diet of those who have a greater need for all the essential amino acids; for example: pregnancy and lactation, growth, extremely intense and / or prolonged sports, old age - due to an eating disorder and a tendency to geriatric malabsorption - pathological malabsorption, recovery from specific or generalized malnutrition, debasement etc.
For the reasonable content of cholesterol and the acceptable percentage of saturated fats, it can be used in the diet against hypercholesterolemia, as long as the portion and frequency of consumption are acceptable. Note : in food therapy against dyslipidemia it is however less appropriate than fish - pinnutes properly called - rich in omega 3 (EPA and DHA). It is a neutral food for diets aimed at subjects suffering from hyperglycemia or type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension, except in the presence of severe overweight.
The sirloin is one of the products to be avoided - especially that obtained from game - or in any case to be consumed with extreme moderation, in the case of severe hyperuricemia - a tendency to gout - and calculosis or renal lithiasis with uric acid crystals. It should be completely excluded from the phenylketonuria diet. It does not show contraindications for lactose intolerance and for celiac disease; it should also be harmless for histamine intolerance.
The sirloin is an appreciable source of bio-available iron and participates in the coverage of metabolic needs, higher in fertile, pregnant women, marathon runners and vegetarians - especially in vegans. Note : iron deficiency can lead to iron deficiency anemia. It contributes to satisfying the phosphorus requirement, a very abundant mineral in the body - in particular in the bones in the form of hydroxyapatite, in the phospholipids of the cell membranes and in the nervous tissue etc. The zinc content - essential for hormone production and antioxidant enzymes - is more than appreciable. It is not to be considered an essential source of potassium, but still participates in satisfying the organism's request - greater in case of increased sweating, for example in sports, increased diuresis and diarrhea; the lack of this alkalizing ion - necessary for the membrane potential and very useful in the fight against primary arterial hypertension - induces, especially related to lack of magnesium and dehydration, the onset of muscle cramps and general weakness.
The sirloin is very rich in B vitamins, all coenzymatic factors of great importance in cellular processes. It can therefore be considered an excellent support for the functioning of the various body tissues. It is not allowed in the vegetarian and vegan diet. It is inadequate for Hindu and Buddhist food; the beef sirloin should be considered a kosher and halal food - as long as it meets the specific slaughtering criteria. After total cooking, it is also allowed in the diet during pregnancy.
The average portion of sirloin is about 100-150 g.
Kitchen
Cook the sirloin
The sirloin is a cut of meat that lends itself to any type of preparation, especially for quick or medium-duration cooking; some like it raw, but the fillet (ileopsoas) is more suitable for this purpose.
From the pork sirloin - possibly also from the wild boar - you can also get a sausage - not ground - quite valuable, called "lonzino". Together with fresh ham, it is often used in the formulation of lean minced meat; however, without the addition of fatty cuts, it does not lend itself to making hamburgers, meatballs, sausages and meat sauce etc. Rarely used to obtain the dough of raw and cooked sausages - sausage, salami, cotechino, salama da sugo etc. - it necessarily requires the addition of fatty cuts - for example, fresh belly or pancetta, coppone etc.
The modes of heat transmission best suited for cooking the sirloin are conduction (from metal to meat; more rarely from oil to meat), convection (from air to meat) and radiation (from embers, which release infrared, to the meat). The recommended temperatures are almost always very high and the times generally low or moderate; some recommend cooking at a low temperature, but more suitable for other recipes. The most widely used cooking techniques or systems are: grilled and spit-roasted - both grilled and gas and stone - baked, grilled, pan-fried and, albeit rarely, fried.
The sirloin is often used to make whole roasts; it is however obligatory to specify that, being a fairly lean cut, it may tend to assume a dry, hard and stringy consistency - due to the contraction of the collagen fibers and the consequent squeezing of the cells with leakage of liquids.
The most famous recipes based on beef sirloin cut into slices with bone are: grilled Florentine - necessarily together with the fillet - grilled beef rib - considered a Florentine steak without fillet - t-bone and porterhouse; instead of pork and sheep, the most famous chop - also with the handle. From the pork sirloin with bone and left whole, baked in the oven, the roast of carré is obtained; without bone instead, it is known as an arista and can also be stuffed or brazed.
Roast Beef in my own way
X Problems with video playback? Reload from YouTube Go to Video Page Go to Video Recipes Section Watch the video on youtubeThe boneless sirloin cut into steaks is called entrecote in the case of bovine or simply loin of pork, and can be cooked on the grill, on the plate or in a pan, to obtain: cut - with rocket and parmesan or with oil 'garlic and rosemary - medallions in a pan - even floured or in sauce - etc. With the whole roasted veal sirloin you can make roast beef; cut into thin slices before cooking it can be the raw material for escalopes or saltimbocca alla romana.
As anticipated, some also appreciate carpaccio or tartar of sirloin - beef, deer and a few other animals; however, the most suitable cut for these recipes is certainly the fillet. The food and wine pairing depends above all on the specific recipe.
Description
Description of the sirloin
Although the two most common animals from which the sirloin is obtained are beef and pork, the same cut can be made from all the creatures of the Mammalia biological class normally used for food; especially of families: Bovidae, Suidae, Equidae and Cervidae . More precisely: bull or cow (Genus Bos and taurus species), pigs and wild boar (Genus Sus and sow species), bison (Genus Bison and bison species), buffalo (Genus Bufalus and bubalis species), horse (Genus Equus and ferus species), donkey or donkey (Gene Equus and asinus species) deer (Genus Cervus and alaphus species), fallow deer (Genus Dama and dama species), moose (Genus Alces and alces species). Cattle breeds widely used are: Chianina, Angus, Kobe and Wagyu - while pork is preferred –Mora Romagnola, Cinta Senese, Nero dei Nebrodi etc.
Intended as a synonym of loin, anatomically speaking, the sirloin - although it would be more correct to speak in the plural, since every being has two (one on each side) - it is made up of the lumbar muscle. This, which has the function of supporting the weight of the trunk and extending the vertebral column, is placed between the anterior and posterior quarters of the beast; the precise position depends on the butcher's cutting technique.
The sirloin has a more or less cylindrical or ellipsoidal and elongated shape - the color is pink in the pig and in the calf and red in the adult bovine, darker in the big game. It is located in the outer most loggia of the body and is superiorly covered by subcutaneous adipose tissue, above which is the skin; inferiorly and laterally, it remains attached to the lumbar vertebrae - transverse and thorny process. Note : the sirloin is wrapped in a panel of dense connective tissue which is generally removed before cooking - because it is hard, elastic and tough to chew. It must also be emphasized that the lumbar muscles, in the beef, can be divided into two types: the front one - towards the head - and the back one - towards the tail; in English these two cuts take the name of short loin (translated: "short loin") and sirloin (translated: "scamone") - in this order - in the middle of which, on the opposite side of the spine, is the fillet - ileopsoas muscle, in English "tenderloin".
