Peri-Peri, renowned for its use in Peri-Peri chicken, is a small chili pepper with a complex, fruity flavor. Where does it originate? What are the top Peri-Peri recipes? How can you make your own Peri-Peri sauce? Where can you find the best Peri-Peri sauces?
Peri-Peri is generally thought to have originated in Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony located in East Africa along the Indian Ocean.
In fact, this pepper was found in its natural state in Bolivia and was later cultivated in Mexico for food and natural medicine. It was in Central America that the Portuguese discovered it in the 15th century under the name "bird's eye chili".
Ripe Peri-peri
This variety of pepper, which could rival black pepper—known at the time as "black gold"—was acclimatized by the Portuguese in their African colonies, particularly in Mozambique, for trade with all of Europe.
Today, it is grown in Zambia, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda, as well as in Portugal. It is used in food processing and also as an ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry.
Due to its many cultivation areas, the Peri-peri has several names, all of which refer to the same pepper.
Pilipili, written without a hyphen, is an ingredient in Tanzanian, Kenyan, Reunionese, Mauritian and Madagascan cuisine, where it is also known as pily kely.
Peri Peri is also a common spelling in the Anglo-Saxon world, notably in South Africa and Malawi.
Piri-Piri is the term used in Mozambique, Portugal, Portuguese-speaking countries and mainly in Europe.
Its complex, fruity flavors are the key to its success today.
It's hard to make Piri-piri sauce at home. Aside from the difficulty of finding the original ingredients, which guarantee real flavors, it's unlikely that you'll get the flavors that the great Portuguese Piri-piri preparers do.
Not easy, but doable, so here's the recipe :
Peri-peri handmade sauce
You can also buy Peri-Peri sauce in the shops. In the store section of this site, we offer some excellent Peri-Peri marinades, as well as a marinade that makes it easy to prepare the famous Portuguese-style chicken.
Because Peri-peri is a chili pepper that retains fruity, complex flavors, it is widely used in Portugal to spice up traditional dishes.
Gambas ao alho
It's the perfect chili pepper to prepare a chili con carne, which will remain very tasty despite the chili's strength. In Portugal, mixed with olive oil and large cloves of garlic, it's the essential ingredient for shrimp a la plancha.
Ingredients (4)
Cooking
It's also perfect for spicing up tomato soup or Gaspacho. Last but not least, it's the perfect accompaniment to chicken barbecues, kebabs or beef cuts.
Influenced by the culture and dishes of Mozambique and Cape Verde, Piri-piri chicken, known in Portuguese as "Frango Assado" or "Franco Peri-peri", emerged as a traditional dish in the Algarve in the 70s and 80s.
Traditionally, Peri-peri chicken is a recipe for barbecued chicken served with Peri-peri sauce and a mix of more traditional European ingredients: garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt, bay leaves and lemon juice.
Portuguese style chicken
Accompanied by Vinho Verde, a Portuguese wine made from young grapes, peri-peri chicken has proved incredibly popular with locals and tourists alike, especially in the Algarve.
Read the full recipe for Piri-piri Portuguese-style chicken in our blog post.
Portugal, of course, has the best Peri-peri to spice up any recipe. It comes in
All these sauces are prepared in the Lisbon region from Peri-peri grown on site on a small family farm to the highest quality standards: no added water, no preservatives, no coloring, no added flavoring, no cholesterol, gluten-free and guaranteed GMO-free.
Peri-Peri is a small chili pepper known for its complex, fruity flavors. Where does it originate? What are the best Peri-Peri recipes? How can you make your own Peri-Peri sauce? Where can you find the best Peri-Peri sauces?
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