Barbecued Piri Piri Prawns

Piri Piri sauce (also known as peri-peri) is arguably Portugal’s most famous sauce. The word Piri-Piri or peri-peri comes from the Swahili for ‘pepper-pepper’ due to the fiery African birds-eye chilies used in the sauce. These hot chillies originate from Mozambique, where it was adopted by Portuguese settlers. The peppers and the sauce are common in several parts of Africa including South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Mozambique.

Traditionally, piri piri is made by grounding all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar. These days a simple blender does the trick with a splash of olive oil to loosen the sauce. Chicken, beef, pork and prawns taste great with piri piri sauce. To make a basic Piri-Piri sauce all you need is a handful of red chillies or birds eye chilies if you feel strong, paprika, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, that’s it. For best results, marinate your chosen food in piri piri overnight or at least for half an hour so that the flavour goes right in. Regularly basting your food while it sizzles away is also key.