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Peri-Peri
Pili pili peppers (ripe red and unripe green)
Genus	Capsicum
Species	Capsicum frutescens
Cultivar	Pili pili
Heat	Very hot
Scoville scale	50,000–175,000 SHU

Peri-peri (/ˌpɪri ˈpɪri/ PIRR-ee-PIRR-ee, often hyphenated or as one word, and with variant spellings piri-piri, piripiri or pili pili) is a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens from the malagueta pepper. It was originally produced by Portuguese explorers in Portugal's former Southern African territories, particularly Mozambique and its border regions with South Africa, and then spread to other Portuguese domains.

Etymology

Pilipili in Swahili means "pepper". Other romanizations include pili pili in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and peri peri in Malawi, deriving from various pronunciations of the word in different parts of Bantu-speaking Africa. Peri peri is also the spelling used as a loanword in some African Portuguese-language countries, especially in the Mozambican community. The peri-peri spelling is common in English, for example in reference to African-style chili sauce, but in Portuguese it is nearly always spelled piri-piri.

The Oxford Dictionary of English records peri-peri as a foreign word meaning "a very hot sauce made with red chilli peppers", and gives its ultimate origin as the word for "pepper" (presumably in the native-African sense) in the Ronga language of southern Mozambique, where Portuguese explorers developed the homonymous cultivar from malagueta pepper.

Plant characteristics

Plants are usually very bushy and grow in height to 45–120 cm (18–47 in) with leaves 4–7 cm (1+1⁄2–3 in) long and 1.3–1.5 cm (1⁄2–9⁄16 in) wide. The fruits are generally tapered to a blunt point and measure up to 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) long. Immature pod colour is green, mature colour is bright red or purple. Some Bird's eye chili varieties measure up to 175,000 Scoville heat units.

Cultivation

Like all chili peppers, piri piri is descended from plants from the Americas, but it has grown in the wild in Africa for centuries and is now cultivated commercially in Zambia, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda. It grows mainly in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Portugal. It is cultivated for both commercial food processing and the pharmaceutical industry. Cultivation of piri piri is labor-intensive.

Peri-peri sauce

Originally produced by Portuguese in Southern Africa (there is still a debate whether Portuguese initially produced it either in Angola or Mozambique), the sauce is made from peri-peri chilis (used as a seasoning or marinade). Beyond Portugal and the Southern African region (Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa) where it was born, the sauce is particularly well known in the United Kingdom due to the success of the South African restaurant chain Nando's.

Recipes vary from region to region, and sometimes within the same region depending on intended use (example, cooking vs. seasoning at the table) but the key ingredients are chili and garlic, with an oily or acidic base.

Other common ingredients are salt, spirits (namely whisky), citrus peel, onion, pepper, bay leaves, paprika, pimiento, basil, oregano and tarragon.

See also

• Berbere
• List of Capsicum cultivars

References

1. S.A, Priberam Informática. "Consulte o significado / definição de piripiri no Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, o dicionário online de português contemporâneo". dicionario.priberam.org (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 10 December 2020.
2. "It turns out you were learning to love peri-peri long before we ever had Nando's". The Independent. 18 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
3. "History of Piri Piri Chicken". Food Fun Travel Blog. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
4. "Peri-Peri | Definition of Peri-Peri by Lexico". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
5. Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010). piri-piri, noun. Oxford University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help)
6. "The Scoville scale". www.alimentarium.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
7. ^ "Pepper Profile: African Birdseye". Fiery Foods and Barbecue SuperSite. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
8. "Story | Nando's". Retrieved 10 December 2020.
9. "Peri Peri Chicken: South Africa's Gift to the World". Nourishing Africa. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
10. "Uncovering the origins of peri-peri sauce". Food. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
11. Rowley Leigh, "A Fiery Challenge for Delicate Palates", The Financial Times, London, 25 September 2004, p. 6.
12. Raghavan, Susheela (23 October 2006). Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings. doi:10.1201/b13597. ISBN 9780429129513.
13. "Molho de piripiri". Vaqueiro PT (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 8 March 2021.
14. "Piri piri sauce recipe from Lisbon by Rebecca Seal". Cooked. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
15. Bender, David A., ed. (2009). "piri-piri". A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199234875.001.0001. ISBN 9780199234875. Retrieved 24 February 2013.

External links

• Media related to Capsicum frutescens 'Piri Piri' at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Chili peppers
Cultivars	Capsicum annuum Aleppo Banana Bell Bird's eye Black Pearl Cascabel Cayenne Cheongyang Chiltepin Cubanelle Chile de árbol Dundicut Espelette Facing Heaven Fish Florina Friggitello Guajillo Guntur Sannam Hungarian wax Jalapeño Korean Medusa New Mexico Big Jim Chimayo Fresno Sandia Santa Fe Grande Padrón Pasilla Peperoncino Pequin Peter Pimiento Piquillo Poblano Serrano Shishito Siling haba Urfa biber Capsicum baccatum Bishop's crown Lemon drop Peppadew Capsicum chinense Adjuma Ají caballero Ají dulce Bhut jolokia (ghost pepper) Carolina Reaper Datil Dragon's Breath Ellachipur Sanman Fatalii Habanero Hainan yellow lantern Infinity Komodo Dragon Madame Jeanette Nagabon Naga Morich Naga Viper Pepper X Red Savina Scotch bonnet Trinidad Moruga scorpion Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Capsicum frutescens African Birdseye Kambuzi Malagueta Siling labuyo Tabasco pepper
Culinary uses	Adobada Chili con carne Chili dog Chili pepper paste Chili pepper water Chili powder Chili thread Ema datshi Filfel chuma Gochujang Harissa Nam phrik Peppersoup Piperade
Condiments and sauces	Biber salçası Chili oil Chili sauce Hot sauce Kōrēgusu Pepper jelly Pickapeppa Sauce Shichimi Sriracha Sweet chili sauce Tabasco sauce XO sauce
See also	Capsaicin Chile Pepper Institute Chilympiad Hot pepper challenge Hunan hand syndrome Pepper spray Ristra Scoville scale
Category Commons

v t e Chili sauces, hot sauces, and chili pastes
Chili sauce	Hot sauce Bajan Blair's Death Buffalo Cholula D'Elidas Dave's Insanity Dog-Gone El Yucateco Frank's RedHot Louisiana Crystal Texas Pete Mad Dog Marie Sharp's Nali Pickapeppa Pique Piri piri Ro-Tel Sriracha Huy Fong Tabasco Tapatío Trappey's Valentina Ají Ajika Ajilimójili Ajvar Ljutenica Pindjur Chile con queso Chili pepper water Chilli vinegar Colo-colo Dabu-dabu Erős Pista Katara Kōrēgusu Lao Gan Ma Llajwa Mala Mojito isleño Mojo Muhammara Nam phrik long ruea num Pebre Pepper jelly Salsa pico de gallo roja verde Sambal Tuktuk Shito Sweet chili sauce Sriracha Tatbila Chili oil
Chili paste	Ajika Biber salçası Doubanjiang Gochujang Harif Harissa Jeow bong Kanzuri Nam phrik phao Pilpelchuma Sambal Zhug
List of hot sauces

• Articles lacking reliable references from August 14, 2022
• Portuguese cuisine
• Brazilian cuisine
• Spices
• Chili peppers
• Reduplicants
• Capsicum cultivars
• Hot sauces
• Mozambican cuisine
• Angolan cuisine
• Namibian cuisine
• South African cuisine