Piri-piri pepper

Piri piri peppers or Piri Piri is an African subspecies of hot chili peppers, namely Bird's Eye. This original pepper was discovered by the Portuguese about four centuries ago, although it can be said that the exact origin of this product is not known to humans.

Even in Africa itself, there is still debate that the people of Portugal initially brought piri piri peppers from the African continent to the European one, after which it ended up in the countries of South America. There is also an assumption that everything was exactly the opposite - it was found that a little later piri-piri peppers were already widespread throughout South Africa: Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. By the way, the former Portuguese colonies - Mozambique and Angola - acted as the main supplier of piri piri pepper.

Interestingly, piri-piri pepper, whose name Piri Piri with Swahili can be translated as hot pepper, has several African synonyms, among which peri-peri and peli-peli - this depends primarily on which part of Africa it comes from. That is why when meeting with a slightly different spelling, you do not need to blame the translator.

Regarding the botanical description of piri piri peppers, it can be said to be a peppermint shrub whose height varies between 45-120 centimeters. The plant is characterized by narrow leaves 4-7 centimeters long and small fruits no more than

2. 5 centimeters in length. Before ripening, the piri-piri pepper is colored green, then turns bright red or purple.

It should be said that on the basis of this unusually hot pepper, the same hot sauce is made, which is still one of the most saturated and refined condiments for cooking grilled chicken. Moreover, the whole trick is that when using such a piri-piri pepper sauce during frying, poultry meat, in addition to acquiring a savoury taste and aroma, loses its specific chicken smell.

Today, the modern food industry produces many quite affordable hot sauces made on the basis of piri piri peppers, among which the Mama Africa series of South African sauces deserves special attention. Connoisseurs of spicy food argue that Tabasco, compared to these nuclear supplements, is just angelic sweetness.

In addition to piri piri peppers, Mama Africa sauces include a number of other components, including fruits, carrots, garlic, onions and lemon juice. In addition, fresh and dried seasonings give piquancy to this product: basil, coriander, ginger, oregano, mint and black pepper.