Piri-Piri Hot Sauce
(Portuguese Hot Sauce)
by David Leite
as featured in The New Cooks' Catalogue
(Knopf, 2000)
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

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 piri-piri peppers aren't available in this country, 
you can substitute any very hot chile, such as cayenne, 
piquins or santaka.

convert  Ingredients 
3 to 6  hot chiles, depending on the heat 
2 cloves  garlic, minced 
  Juice of 1 lemon  
pinch  salt  
1 cup  extra-virgin olive oil  
    
 
Method 
1. Coarsely chop the peppers and discard stems. 
2. Place all the ingredients (including the seeds) in a 
food processor fitted with a metal blade and purée. Pour 
into a small glass jar and let steep for at least 24 hours 
at room temperature. 
3. Strain and return to jar. Sauce will keep in 
refrigerator for 1 month.