Peri-peri

( , often hyphenated or as one word, and with variant spellings  or ) is a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens that was originally produced in Mozambique by Portuguese explorers from the malagueta pepper and then spread to other Portuguese territories.

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

The Oxford Dictionary of English records  as a foreign word meaning "a very hot sauce made with red ", 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  with leaves  long and  wide. The fruits are generally tapered to a blunt point and measure up to  long. Immature pod color is green, mature color is bright red or purple. Some Bird's eye chili varieties measure up to 175,000 Scoville heat units.

Cultivation
Like all chili peppers,  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  is labor-intensive.

sauce

Sauce made from  chilis (used as a seasoning or marinade) is Portuguese in origin and is also "especially prevalent in Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa". It is made from crushed chillies, citrus peel, onion, pepper, garlic, salt, lemon juice, bay leaves, paprika, pimiento, basil, oregano, and tarragon.

Recipes vary from region to region but the common ingredients are chili, lemon, oil, garlic, bay leaves and red bell peppers.

See also

 Berbere
 List of Capsicum cultivars

References

External links
 

Category:Portuguese cuisine
Category:Brazilian cuisine
Category:Spices
Category:Chili peppers
Category:Reduplicants
Category:African cuisine
Category:Capsicum cultivars
Category:Hot sauces