Peri Peri Prawns cooked on the the braai in Tofo, Mozambique!

Peri peri or Piri Piri or Pili Pili prawns on the braai- this was such a great experience! Not only because of the ingredients and knowledge used but the location is undeniably right up there in terms of beauty and uniqueness. Peri peri prawns are a huge favourite in Mozambique and South Africa, but also feature worldwide in seafood restaurants. i was on location on Tofo Beach, shooting my Per Peri Pilgrimage documentary during this cook, and by then had confirmed that the way I make Peri Peri is extremely close to the real deal. Inhambane province is the home of Peri Peri and it was great to get some validation- I take Peri Peri very seriously!! So traditionally Peri Peri or Piri Piri (more correct) is made from only a few simple ingredients which are: African Birds eye chillies(Malagueta/Capsicum frutescens/African devil.) Garlic. Lemon Juice. Salt to taste. All of these must be fresh. You can use something like a Thai birds eye chilli if you can't get the real deal. So the Portuguese brought Brazil's native Malagueta chilli peepers to Mozambique during their colonialisation, and it was in the Inhambane province that the cultivar of Malagueta started. This produced a smaller slightly hotter African Birds eye more akin to the Malaguetinha (smaller Malagueta.) And so Peri Peri was born!!! Make this to taste but my rough proportions are: 2-3 very heaped tablespoons chopped garlic. 6-7 very heaped tablespoons chopped chillis. 1.5 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Enough salt to make this quite salty. Grind this a bit by hand or pulse it to give a nice chunky sauce. It can be used fresh or lightly cooked and blended till smooth. Whilst the above is the purist Peri Peri, and my favourite, I saw chicken spice being added to the mix in Mozambique, for some more depth. Similarly a lot of recipes also call for things like oil, herbs, spices, red peppers (bell), vinegar etc. I, myself, often substitute habaneros or scotch bonnet pepper to the red chillis that I can get at the time- it's generally impossible to find african birds eye in the UK without going to the commercial markets. I hope you enjoyed this!!! For the wonderful accommodation options: https://tofobeach.co.za/ [email protected] Christa de Villiers: +27 72 129 4278 #periperi #prawns #braai