Piri Piri – Portuguese-African condiment


Over the last few weeks I’ve been searching for some interesting marinade type stuff I could use for this year’s grilling season. My new hangout, Chuck Taggart’s gumbo pages and my old hangout bbqsearch.com found me with a ton of great ideas. I decided to start with a recipe I found on the gumbo pages, Piri Piri.
It’s darned hot Portuguese-African condiment … or so I am told. You see, once you put it together, it has to sit a week and I have until next Friday to find out.
It’s meat free Jebbers, just for you.



This is what you’ll be needin’.
1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
4 jalapeno chiles, roughly chopped (stems, seeds and all)
2 poblano chiles, roughly chopped (stems, seeds and all)
1 tablespoon crushed dried red chile flakes
1 teaspoon salt
8 turns fresh ground black pepper
3 cloves minced garlic

Put everything into a sauce pan, except the garlic. Yank your stove up high and make it go for about four minutes. I preheated the oil, just a bit.
Pull from heat and stir in garlic. Let stand until room temperature. I moved it into a mixing bowl and set on the counter.
After it has cooled, put into a food processor and pulse 16 times. I did 15 and one really good one to round it out a bit.
Pour into a good sealing glass container, such as a mason jar (Classico Spaghetti Sauce!) and let it sit for a week.
Chuck didn’t mention anything about where to let it sit, in the fridge, on the counter, in a dark cool spot … ? I’ll do some more research, but my guess is to just put it in your cupboard. If we put it in the fridge, the olive oil would congeal making things quite funky. So, that can’t be it.
Since I am the nervous, can’t stand leaving anything alone person, I will be flipping the jar end to end every day or so. Gotta get the gooslems all twitterpated.

Well, there it is again. And this is it until next week. I’m thinking I’ll cut up a
chicken and marinate it over night in the Piri Pri then grill it over a mesquite fire.
First to sear, then indirectly to let the juices pravilate.
So, until next week … XO XO.

3 thoughts on “Piri Piri – Portuguese-African condiment

  1. UPDATE PIRI PIRI:
    Well, we have one more day to go until I can use it. The olive oil has taken on the color of the green chilis and the red pepper flakes have dulled a bit. The entire goo has clearly melded together nicely. I’m wanting to open it and have a snoot full. But I think I’m going to wait.

  2. To make real hot marinade, use fresh red chile instead of dried. The best the small ones.
    You can use this marinade one prawns and also in fish.