by Dave Dewitt
We had mammal and bird identification books, and I kept a list of what we saw—in all, 16 species of animals and 23 species of birds. We didn’t see any lions, leopards, or Cape buffaloes, but we did see elephants, rhinos, hippos, baboons, impalas, kudus, giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, crocodiles, monitor lizards, and a warthog. The most impressive bird was a gigantic martial eagle, and we also spotted hornbills, ox pickers, herons, plovers, vultures, shrikes, kingfishers, and a black-breasted snake eagle. It was the most amazing nature tour I’ve ever taken. Rochelle, Selwyn, and Chris even prepared a bush breakfast for us at one of the camps, fired up with Nando’s sauces, of course.
A Nando’s location in London. Photograph by Alex Rotenberg. Bigstock Photo.
Back in Johannesburg, we were given a tour of Nando’s manufacturing and bottling operation, including their beautifully decorated Brand Room where they give seminars to their restaurant and grocery managers. Nando’s now has 1186 restaurants in more than 32 countries, and they expanded into the US in late 2007 with a restaurant in Washington, DC. As of 2019, Nando’s has 42 restaurants in the US: 12 in Illinois, 6 in Washington, DC, 14 in Maryland, and 10 in Virginia.
They also have dozens of products on the market, including hot sauces and other condiments. Their products are available at www.nandosperiperi.com. Mary Jane fell in love with their PERinaise, a mayo with hot sauce added, but it’s not yet available in the US. (Fudge it by adding your favorite peri-peri sauce to a good mayonnaise, to taste.)
Chris took us to a Nando’s location in Parktown North in J-Burg, and I ordered the ¼ chicken meal, with spicy rice. When asked if I wanted it mild, medium, or hot, I said “hot.” After biting into a chicken thigh, I knew immediately that this was not just hot—it was very hot. The chicken was extremely tasty, much more so than US poultry. The chicken is marinated in hot sauce, then basted with more hot sauce as it is grilled over open flames.
Our next diversion was a flight to Cape Town, probably the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. Within a few miles, the landscape rises thousands of feet, from the sea-level beaches to the flat top of Table Mountain, which is reached via a tram. The views are nothing but spectacular. Cape Town spreads from the front of Table Mountain to the back, and the outlying areas, including Stellenbosch, boast the best vineyards and wineries in South Africa. We stayed at the five-star Lanzerac Manor and Winery in the heart of wine country. Our room was 720 square feet plus the bath and walk-in closet. The grounds were beautiful, and every morning a flock of guinea fowl would assemble for breakfast outside in a courtyard visible from one of our windows. It was here that I started drinking wine instead of beer!
Chris then took us to his prototype peri-peri chile field, where we met Riaan Breet and Marianna Smith, who were consulting on the breeding program. I examined the small plants and concluded that the sandy soil needed more organic material to hold the moisture. Nando’s has several experimental fields, and they are hoping to develop their own variety of peri-peri.
One of the glories of Cape Town is the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which is one of eight gardens of the South African National Biodiversity Institute in the country. I have visited botanical gardens all over the world, and this one is the most dramatic and beautiful that I’ve ever seen. Their succulent collection is outstanding and they have many theme gardens and a nature reserve. Kirstenbosch stretches over about 1200 acres with the magnificent Table Mountain as a backdrop.
Another fascinating nature display is Boulders, the part of Table Mountain National Park that is host to hundreds of African penguins (formerly called “jackass penguins” for their braying-like mating call). Lots of animals want to eat these penguins, including sharks, Cape fur seals, killer whales, mongooses, cats, dogs, and kelp gulls, but somehow they manage to survive. Maybe it’s their charm, as they are very cute.
FEATURED CHILE PEPPER: AFRICAN BIRD’S EYE
The African bird’s eye pepper, called peri-peri in South Africa, most resembles the ‘NuMex Bailey Piquin’ pod in the bird-peppers photograph on page 170. Since many wild chiles have the word “bird” in their names, distinguishing among them can be difficult. Most bird peppers are undomesticated varieties of four species: annuum, baccatum, chinense, and frutescens. The most familiar bird peppers are the Mexican chiltepín and the Texan chilipiquin. The African bird’s eye chile is both wild and domesticated and is also known in English as African devil chile, in Swahili as pili-pili, and in Kamba as ndul. Some sources state that this chile is also prik kee nu, the Thai “mouse dropping pepper,” but that is a different, much thinner chile. It should be pointed out that pili-pili simply means “pepper-pepper” and is a generic term for any African chile.
A Field of African Bird’s Eye Chiles Under Irrigation in South Africa. Photograph by Dave DeWitt.
Most sources state that the bird’s eye is Capsicum frutescens, making it a relative of the Tabasco chile. Depending on growing conditions, the plants range in height from 1 ½ to 4 feet tall and are usually very bushy. The leaves vary in length from 1 ½ to 3 inches, and in width from ½ inch to 1 inch. The fruits generally measure between ½ and 1 inch long and taper to a blunt point. Immature pod color is green; mature color is bright red.
Pungency can vary according to precise variety of bird’s eye, where it is grown, and environmental conditions. The bird’s eye, particularly the Ugandan variety, is thought to be the most pungent chile that is not of the chinense species, measuring up to 175,000 SHU. In a test of a variety provided by chile gardener Harald Zoschke, the Malawi bird’s eye variety from Africa was measured at 112,226 SHU, and the same variety grown in Harald’s garden was measured at 99,579 SHU.
The bird’s eye chile has grown wild in Africa for centuries but has been under commercial cultivation for many years in Uganda, Malawi, and Zimbabwe; and now South Africa is looking to catch up. Other countries where it is cultivated include Papua New Guinea, China, Mexico, Chile, and India. The plants are perennial and sometimes produce for three years before they are plowed under. Growing African bird’s eye chiles is very labor-intensive and they require handpicking. The pods are picked when they are bright red and 2 or less centimeters (¾ inch) long. A single plant yields about 300 grams (⅔ pound) of fresh pods. Yields of about 1.8 metric tons per hectare are typical (a hectare is 2.47 acres).
Because of the extremely high heat levels, most African bird’s eye chiles are processed into oleoresin capsicum (pepper extract) for use in commercial food processing and the pharmaceutical industry. The ground powder is often sold as extremely hot cayenne powder and is packaged in capsules. These are the prices paid for bird’s eye pods in July 2001: Zimbabwe, US$2,750 per metric ton; and Malawi, US$2,800 per metric ton.
Take care in using African bird’s eye chiles in the kitchen because of the extreme pungency of the pods. You would not, for example, want to make a hot sauce out of a cup of the pods and some vinegar.
recipes
Bobotie. Photograph by Elizabeth Hoffmann. iStock
BOBOTIE
yield
4 to 6 servings
heat scale
medium
Rich golden curry powder is at the heart of Cape Malay cooking. The lemon juice, the fruit, and the spiciness of the chile add a real flavor dimension to this South African ground-meat dish. Serve this dish with rice and a fruit salad.
3
tablespoons vegetable oil
1
pound lean ground lamb
1
onion, finely chopped
1 ½
tablespoons commercial curry paste
4
large garlic cloves, minced
½
cup raisins
¼
cup fresh lemon juice, strained
1
tablespoon apricot preserves
¾
cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1
tablespoon minced jalapeño chile
½
teaspoon salt
⅔
cup half-and-half cream
½
cup fine dry white breadcrumbs
1
cup milk
2
eggs
¼
teaspoon salt
Freshly cooked rice
Heat the oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground lamb and cook until no longer pink, breaking up with a fork, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and stir until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Drain off all fat. Add the curry paste and garlic, and stir for 2 minutes. Add the raisins, lemon juice, preserves, apricots, chile, and salt, and stir until the mixture thickens and most of the lemon juice evaporates, about 5 minutes. Mix in the half-and-half and breadcrumbs. Cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer the mixture to a 7 by 12–inch ovenproof glass baking dish. Whisk the milk with the eggs in a small bowl until thick and add the salt. Pour this over the meat mixture. Bake until custard topping is set, 35 to 45 minutes.
Serve immediately with the rice.
HARISSA SAUCE
yield
1 ½ cups
heat scale
hot
This classic sauce is thought to be of Tunisian origin but is found throughout all of North Africa. It is used to flavor couscous and grilled dishes such as kebabs. Harissa sauce reflects the region’s love of spicy combinations, all with a definite cumin and coriander flavor. Cover this sauce with a thin film of olive oil and it will keep up to a couple of months in the refrigerator.
10
dried whole red New Mexican chiles, stems and seeds removed
Hot water
2
tablespoons olive oil
5
cloves garlic
1
teaspoon ground cumin
1
teaspoon ground cinnamon
1
teaspoon ground coriander
1
teaspoon ground caraway
Cover the chiles with hot water and let them sit for 30 minutes until they soften. Place the chiles and remaining ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth, using the chile water to thin it. The sauce should have the consistency of a thick paste.
BERBERE PASTE
yield
1 ½ cups
heat scale
extremely hot
Berbere is the famous—or should I say infamous?—scorching Ethiopian hot sauce. One recipe I ran across called for over a cup of powdered cayenne! It is used as an ingredient in a number of dishes, a coating when drying meats, and as a side dish or condiment. Tribal custom dictated that it be served with kitfo, raw-meat dishes that are served warm. This sauce will keep for a couple of months under refrigeration. Serve sparingly as a condiment with grilled meats and poultry or add to soups and stews.
4
whole cardamom pods
2
teaspoons cumin seeds
½
teaspoon black peppercorns
½
teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1
small onion, coarsely chopped
4
cloves garlic
1
cup water
15
dried piquin chiles, stems removed
1
tablespoon ground cayenne
2
tablespoons ground paprika
½
teaspoon ground ginger
¼
teaspoon ground allspice
¼
teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼
teaspoon ground cloves
3
tablespoons vegetable oil
Toast the cardamom pods, cumin seeds, peppercorns, and fenugreek seeds in a hot skillet, shaking constantly for a couple of minutes, until they start to crackle and pop. In a spice mill, grind these spices to form a powder.
Combine the onions, garlic, and ½ cup water in a blender, and puree until smooth. Add the chiles, cayenne, paprika, ground spices, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, and continue to blend, slowly adding the remaining water and oil, and blend until smooth. Remove to a saucepan and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes to blend the flavors and thicken.
CAPE MALAY FRESH CURRY PASTE
yield
makes approximately 1 ½ cups of curry paste
heat scale
medium
Diana G. Armstrong provided this recipe, adapted from C. Louis Leipoldt’s Cape Cookery, written in the 1940s. It is especially good for making bobotie.
2
small red bell peppers
2
jalapeño peppers, seeds and stems removed
1
tablespoon cumin seeds
2
tablespoons coriander seeds
2
tablespoons turmeric
1
teaspoon fenugreek
2
cloves garlic
1
teaspoon finely diced fresh ginger
½
teaspoon salt
¼
stick cinnamon, crushed a little
½
teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
4
ounces butter
Crush all ingredients together with a mortar and pestle, or pulse in a blender. Store in the refrigerator.
PERI-PERI NUTTY CHICKEN
yield
4 to 6 servings
heat scale
varies according to the amount of Nando’s sauce used
This will give you an idea of how Nando’s works with chicken!
8
chicken portions, drumsticks or thighs
3
tablespoons Nando’s Peri-Peri Sauce, more if you like it hot
¼
cup vegetable oil, peanut preferred, to oil the baking dish
2
tablespoons soy sauce
2
tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1
clove garlic, crushed
⅓
cup finely chopped peanuts or cashews
2
tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and place in a single layer in a well-greased baking dish. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until they become brown and crisp.
Place the Nando’s Peri-Peri Sauce, soy sauce, peanut butter, and garlic in a saucepan, and stir to combine. Heat the sauce over a low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Stir in the nuts.
Brush the chicken generously with the sauce and continue to bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
Lake Pichola and the Taj Lake Palace Hotel. Photograph by Vladimir Sklyarov | 123RF.
seven
THE COUNTRY OF CURRIES
The word “curry” refers to both a spice mixture and a style of cooking. The spice mixture usually contains chile peppers in the form of a hot powder along with up to thirty other spices and herbs. The cooking style is essential for stewing meats, seafood, poultry, or vegetables in the spice mixture.
A BRIEF ETYMOLOGY OF CURRY
One of the most intriguing theories about the ancestry of curry was advanced by Captain Basil Hall, a traveler in India, Ceylon, and Borneo. “It will surprise most people,” he writes in 1930, “to learn that the dish we call curry is not of India, nor, indeed, of Asiatic origin at all. There is reason to believe that curries were first introduced into India by the Portuguese.” Hall reasoned that since the Portuguese had introduced chile peppers into India, and since hot peppers are a primary ingredient of curry, ergo, they must have introduced curries as well.
Hall was dead wrong, of course. Curry-like spice mixtures date back to at least 4000 BC. In excavations of the ancient cities of Harpatta and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan, grinding stones were found th
at contained traces of mustard seed, cumin, saffron, fennel, and tamarind. Since all of these spices appear in curries, it is not unreasonable to assume that the ancient Indus Valley people were cooking with curry spices 6,000 years ago—although no recipes survive.
“Many people consider them [inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro, called the Harappa culture] the world’s first gourmets and creative cooks,” writes William Laas in Cuisines of the Eastern World. “Their achievements may be measured by the fact that their seasonings were adopted by all who came after them.”
One of the first written mentions of curry-style cookery is attributed to Athenaeus, a Greek miscellanist who lived about AD 200. In his Deipnosophistae (The Gastronomers), a fascinating survey of classical food and dining habits, he quotes Megasthenes, the third century BC author of Indica : “Among the Indians at a banquet a table is set before each individual . . . and on the table is placed a golden dish, in which they first throw boiled rice . . . and then they add many sorts of meat dressed after the Indian fashion.”
