Portuguese Piri-Piri Hot Sauce

Molho de Piri-Piri
by David Leite
as featured in The New Cooks’ Catalogue
(Knopf, 2000)
Makes about 1 cup

Piri-piri is the Swahili word for the incendiary red peppers of Africa — primarily those of Angola and Mozambique, former Portuguese colonies. Because of the seafaring nature of the Portuguese, it didn’t take long for these bite-size pods of fire to make their way to Lisbon aboard spice ships returning from the East.

Mainlanders wasted no time in turning the torrid chiles into a versatile sauce. Cooks use it as a marinade, a basting liquid, and a condiment. In fact, take a walk down an esplanade in Lisbon and you’ll find bottles of piri-piri sauce dotting restaurant tables everywhere. And no wonder: It’s perfect with shrimp, chicken and fish.

Although true southern African piri-piri peppers aren’t available in this country, you can substitute any very hot chile, such as cayenne, tabasco, piquins or santaka.—David Leite

convert Ingredients
4 to 8 hot chiles, depending on the heat
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
1/2 to 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, depending on how thin you want it

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Method
1. Coarsely chop the peppers and discard stems.

2. Place the chiles and their seeds, the garlic, lemon juice, salt, and as much of the oil as you wish in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and purée. Pour the mixture into a small glass jar and let steep for several days in the fridge.

3. You can strain the mixture and return it to jar, but I like mine with a bit of texture. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 1 month.

Note: For those concerned about the health risks of allowing raw garlic to steep in olive oil, don’t fret. Shirley O. Corriher, food scientist and author of Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, says that due to the sauce’s high acidity and oxygen content, there’s no problem. In fact, she added: “I’d be tempted to eat it myself.”

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