Piri piri

Genus Capsicum

Species Capsicum frutescens

Cultivar Pili pili

Heat Very hot




Piri piri also called African bird's eye chili, is a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens, one of the sources of chili pepper that grows both wild and domesticated.

It is a small member of the Capsicum genus. It grows in Angola, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the tropical forests of South Sudan and the highlands of Ethiopia.

Piri piri is the Swahili word for 'pepper pepper'. Other romanizations include pili pili in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or peri peri in Malawi, deriving from the various pronunciations of the word in parts of Bantu languages-speaking Africa.

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

Plants are usually very bushy and grow in height to 45–120 centimeters, with leaves 4–7 cm long and 1.3–1.5 cm wide. The fruits are generally tapered to a blunt point and measure up to 8 or 10 centimeters long. Immature pod color is green, mature color is bright red or purple.

Like all chili peppers, piri piri is descended from South American cultivars, but piri piri has grown in the wild in Africa for centuries and is now cultivated commercially in Zambia, Uganda, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. It grows mainly in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is cultivated for both commercial food processing and the pharmaceutical industry. Cultivation of piri piri is labor-intensive.

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

Scoville Units: 100.000 ~ 225.000

This Capsicum frutescens species (where the Tabasco also belongs to) is a small but very hot pepper. They grow all around Africa (also wild). This chile is known as the pepper for preparing piri-piri dishes. They are 1 to 2 cm long and 1cm wide.