Santa Maria Tri-Tip

Santa Maria, California: It was here, in this ranching turned agricultural town between Los Angeles and San Francisco that the meat synonymous with barbecue in southern California came into being—the Santa Maria tri-tip. When grilled, this boomerang-shaped cut, the tip of the sirloin, has two genial properties: It slices like brisket but has the rich beefy flavor of steak. And if it weren’t for Bob Schutz, Californian butchers might still be grinding it up to make hamburger. Schutz was a si