Hey TomT226,

I'm with ya, I love Piri Piri Chicken. Your "Slap 'yo mama" statement made me chuckle. Agreed, it's slap 'yo mama good!

My recipe is similar to yours except in addition to your ingredients mine also calls for some ginger, honey and onion. I score my chicken and marinade over night to really infuse the flavour. Like I said, I love the stuff.

I've done a couple of cooking with pepper segments on a local radio show the past few years. Last year I did a segment on African Bird's Eye peppers and Piri Piri Chicken. On the off chance you or anyone else is interested in the background of this dish, here are my notes based on research I did for the show.

Columbus brought chiles back to Europe from the new world where they were traded and spread.

African BirdâÂÂs Eye (Piri Piri) peppers are grown in Malawi, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the tropical forests of South Sudan and the southern half of Ethiopia.

Piri piri is the spelling of the name as used in the Portuguese language, namely in the Portuguese-speaking Mozambican community

Portuguese took the chiles to their colonies of Mozambique and Angola, where they were christened a Swahili word that means 'pepper-pepper', and naturally cross-pollinated.

On their voyages down the west coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope, Portuguese sailors distributed pepper seeds at trading posts and strongholds, including two of Portugal's future colonies, Angola and Mozambique. It was the southern African soil that lent the adaptable pepper its highly prized balance of fruit and heat, turning it into a cash crop,

In an interesting turnabout, years later the Portuguese finally brought the pepper home, where it insinuated itself into the country's cuisine.

The recipes are secret and have been in families for years. These chili cocktails are made up of piri-piri sauce (traditionally olive oil, and sometimes vinegar, infused with dried peppers) as well as a mix that can include garlic, lemon, ginger, herbs, seasonings and oftentimes some sort of alcohol.

"The traditional way of serving Piri Piri Chicken or frango com piri-piri is for the waiter to ask 'com ou sem' -- with or without," - Choose "without" and the chicken is taken from the piri-piri marinade and grilled. Ordering it "with." the cook will brush the grilled bird with more sauce right before serving and a bottle of the stuff will be clunked down on the table to be added as you like.

Did I mention I love Piri Piri Chicken LOL

Damn good info, thanks. From what I've read, the Tepin is the "mother of all peppers," as it grew wild everywhere in southern North America, and South America. It's a hardy plant that can take a lot of abuse. Used to grow all over the place here until the droughts started. Now it can be found only in creek bottoms where there's a little moisture all the time.
I started making Piri-piri with Tepins and Pequins before I even knew what it was. I now make it with Bhuts if I want to kick up the spiciness. I've even made a green Piri-piri with green Bhuts and serranos. Just leave out the paprika.
It's great on grilled fish too. And fajitas. Hell, put it on a shingle and I'd eat it...

I like to put my 2 cents in.Franco piri-piri has to have Irish whiskey in the sauce before serving.It is a must!!

Never thought of that. Gonna add a shot of tequila to the next batch.
The only thing my Bushmill's goes in is my mouth... ;-)