What are Peri-Peri Peppers?
Piri-piri, peri-peri or peli-peli is the name used in Portuguese and a number of African languages to describe the African bird’s-eye chilli, a member of the capsicum plant genus. This is a small and extremely spicy variety. The variations in spelling derive from the various pronunciations of the word in parts of Africa, although “piri-piri” is the correct spelling in Portuguese.

I love good advertising and in the world of hot sauce, Nandos Peri-Peri Sauces stand out for their advertising alone - but is their hot sauce any good? After receiving some samples and chatting with the Nandos reps at the NYC Fancy Foods show, the answer is a re-sounding YES. Their sauces are very good & unique. That’s a hard combination to achieve in the food world these days and even harder in the hot sauce world, where old timers like Tabasco dominate the store shelves and the collective consciousness of America.

Nando’s Garlic Pepper Sauce - Not too hot, but high in garlic content. The garlic makes sure the flavor of the hot sauce stick around inside your mouth, maintaining a slow continued burn after consumption. Tastes slightly hotter then Nando’s Medium, but still rated “Medium Heat”.
3 out of 5 Stars

Nando’s Medium Pepper Sauce - Most medium heat hot sauces don’t ever leave me wanting more and my expectations for Nando’s Medium Pepper Sauce were not that high for that reason. However, after tasting the Medium and the Extra Hot of Nando’s Hot Sauces, I can safely say that the medium is by far my favorite. Nandos has managed to maintain an even heat and flavor balance making Nando’s Medium a great hot sauce for any meal. So far I’ve used it to touch up my leftover pork chops (see below), on a hot dog, plain rice and directly to the tongue - all tasty!
4 out of 5 Stars

Nando’s Extra Hot Pepper Sauce - I love hot hot hot and that’s what Nando’s Extra hot delivers. It’s not in the category of pepper extracts, but it’s one of the extra hot pepper sauces I’ve tasted that still has a good pepper flavor.
3 out of 5 Stars

You can buy any of the Nando’s Hot Sauces here

Quick & Easy Lime & Cilantro Pork Chops
Mix 1 Bottle Nando’s Lime & Cilantro marinade with 2 Tb brown sugar, 2 tsp ground turmeric, 2 crush garlic cloves, 1 Tb chopped fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup mayonnaise and a dash of Nando’s Peri-Peri Hot Sauce to taste. Peel and slice 3-4 large potatoes. Layer potatoes and pork chops in oven safe baking dish. Cover with marinade. Let stand for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Now, don’t let the picture fool you - for some reason I couldn’t get the color/lighting right, but the pork chops were delicious! The Lime and Cilantro added a flavor kick to the taste buds and the additional Nandos Hot Sauce added just enough heat to finish it off. The ole one-two flavor punch.