I wanted to
pass along something I thought was very cool. On this past trip to Orlando, one of the hotels
I stayed in was a Disney property called the “Animal Kingdom Lodge”. This hotel
is all in the theme of Africa. They have 3
restaurants and in one of them they proudly have Nando's products on display as
well as selling them. I thought this was great. - John
3 Cups Corn Chex Cereal 3 Cups Rice Chex Cereal (You can Mix and Match Cereals) 1 Cup Peanuts ( Unshelled ,Salted or Unsalted) Not Dry roasted 1 Cup Bagel Chips Broken into Pieces 1 cup Toasted oats Cereal (Cheerios) 1/2 cup Butter or margarine ½ cup Your favorite Peri Peri Sauce.
I used the medium Peri Peri Sauce
Preheat oven to 250 Fahrenheit
Melt Butter in saucepan
Turn off Burner once butter is fully melted
Add Peri Peri Sauce
Mix wet and dry ingredients together in bowl so that dry ingredients get coated with mix or place in large plastic bag making sure that butter mix is cool and shake to coat all ingredients
Place mix on cookie sheets and bake for 40 minutes stirring twice.
After 40 minutes turn off oven and let cool for 1 hour
Store mix in Ziploc bags or Airtight container
Enjoy
I always make a big batch of snack mix when we go camping, because a lot of people visit while we are camping, I made this for the labor weekend. I usually make a Tabasco sauce type mix but thought something different would be nice. They all loved it.
Hi, I lived in South Africa for a year and I think i ate Nando's almost every single day. It's the most delicious thing i've ever eaten. My girlfriend and I love it so much we named our dog Nando Being able to buy the marinades in the U.S. has certainly made my time away from the Nando's manageble, I would love to be able to walk into a franchise here in the U.S. and order myself up a double cheeseburger on a portuguese role...When does nando's expect to hit U.S. shores? Might i suggest San Francisco as a good starting point.
Paco Underhill is the founder and Managing Director of Envirosell, a behavioral market research and consulting company. He is also the author of the international best selling book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. His book is published in North America by Simon & Schuster and is now out in eleven foreign editions. In it, he dissects the behavior of everyday consumers in a most informative and entertaining fashion. His new book is The Call of the Mall, A Walking Tour Through the Crossroads of Our Shopping Culture.
After a career in urban land use planning, Mr. Underhill formed Environmental Analysis & Planning Consultants in 1979 and began to apply his research methodologies to issues in retail environments. The firm changed its name in 1989 to Envirosell, Inc. Envirosell is a leading research and consulting agency for stores, banks, restaurants, and consumer product manufacturers.
The firm specializes in analyzing the interaction between people and products, and people and commercial spaces. Its Fortune 500 client list includes: The Gap, Ann Taylor, CompUSA, Unilever, Gillette, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, McDonalds, Starbucks, Citibank, and NationsBank. The firm9s clients also include e-commerce ventures like Yahoo and innovative developers like The Rouse Company.
The firm's work has been profiled in the New Yorker, Smithsonian Magazine, Fortune, and Fast Company. The New Yorker piece published in 1996 and written by Malcom Gladwell has been one of the most reprinted articles in the New Yorker's history.
Envirosell started its offshore practice in 1987 and now operates offices in Milan and Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Paco is never dull, often funny, and always on target.
Quotation : Speak'ng out Nov 2006
South African business is booming.SAB is a global player owning Miller Beer,.........My favorite, Nando's, a spicy chicken restaurant chain, already operates in 35 countries and soon plans to open its first American location.
Price is a Zimbabwean citizen but was born in Durban, South Africa. His early life was spent in Zimbabwe (then called Rhodesia), a time that included a stint in the army during that country's civil war. His parents were originally English. He began his professional golf career in 1977 on the Southern Africa Tour, before moving to the European Tour and finally the PGA TOUR in 1983. He now lives in Hobe Sound, Florida.
After a promising start, with a victory in his first year in the USA, his career faded somewhat before an impressive comeback at the beginning of the nineties.
By the mid-nineties Price was regarded as the best player in the world, and in 1994 he won two majors back-to-back, The Open and the PGA Championship, adding to his first major (also the PGA Championship) from 1992. He topped the PGA Tour money list in 1993 and 1994, setting a new earnings record each time, and spent 43 weeks at number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.
Although Price continues to play professionally, he has expanded into golf design with his own company operating out of Florida, and he has his own line of signature golf apparel. Price is widely regarded by fans, media and his fellow players as one of the most personable golfers on the PGA TOUR.
He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit for the 1982/83 season and would of won again in 1996/97 if he had met the minimum number of tournaments. In 1993 and 1997, Price was awarded the Vardon Trophy; this award is given annually by the PGA of America to the tour player with the lowest adjusted scoring average with a minimum of 60 rounds. In 2005, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Humanitarian and talk show host Oprah Winfrey is also known for her love of Nando's which she acquired on trips to South Africa.
Sale Sharks rugby union star winger Mark Cueto and Indian Test Cricketer Harbhajan Singh list Nando's as their favourite food.
TV Comedian Ricky Gervais is a fan of Nando's and in a recent article [1] he mentions that if The Office is syndicated in the US that he would be "going to buy BuckinghamPalace and turn it into a huge Nandos".
Grime-MC Kano from London, UK, even raps about Nando's food in his tracks.
Nando's suggests on their website that David Beckham and the England team frequently visit the Nando's restaurant located in Manchester[2].
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Fancy Food & Culinary Products Magazine
Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces are Hot! Results of the 2007 Scovie Awards are in, recognizing top fiery foods products from around the globe. Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces of Costa Mesa CA (manufactured in South Africa) received a total of nine 2007 Scovie Awards. In the industry's most rigorous blind tastings, a panel of the country's top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world's most lauded gourmet foods, and the top scoring products each won a coveted Scovie banner. Extra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce, Wild Herb Peri-Peri Sauce, Hot Peri-Peri Marinade and Curry Coconut Cooking Sauce received the awards for Nando's in the Hot Sauce, Beverages, Prepared Sauces-Stir Fry and Grilling categories. More than 700 products from around the world competed for top honors. The Scovie Awards are named for Wilbur Scoville, who pioneered a rating scale for spicy foods and have become the industry standard for excellence in more than 60 categories of fiery foods. For more information, visit www.NandosUSA.com or call 888/625-2657.
When it comes to food, your local supermarket is your free passport to the world. 'Today' food editor Phil Lempert offers you a special view
By Phil Lempert
"Today" Food Editor
Updated: 49 minutes ago
South African South African cuisine is mainly influenced by two things: The practices of indigenous peoples (the Khoisan, Xhosa- and Sotho-speakers), and the settler practices from the colonial period (the Afrikaner and British and their slaves and servants — from Malaysia and Java, as well as neighboring colonialists like the Portuguese of Mozambique). African bird's-eye chili, also called piri-piri, peri-peri or peli-peli, in various Portuguese and African languages is a pepper used in sauces and marinades for roasting and grilling.
Peri Peri Sauces: A heat that can only be found in Southern Africa. These traditional Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces deliver flavor first and then a warming afterglow! Use Nando's Peri-Peri as a condiment on your favorite prepared foods - or marinate your butterfly-cut flame-grilled chicken for that addictive Nando's taste. A characteristic of the Peri-Peri chili is that the heat creeps up on you, thus allowing you to first enjoy the taste and then ex-peri-peri-ence the African glow. Peri-peri grinders retail for $5.49 while sauces are $3.79. www.nandosusa.com
Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces LANDS TOP INTERNATIONAL FOOD AWARDS
(November 15, 2006) Results of the 2007 Scovie Awards, which recognizes top fiery foods products from around the globe are in and Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces of Costa Mesa CA( manufactured in South Africa) was selected for numerous awards in one of the world's most competitive gourmet food competitions.Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces which manufactures Hot Sauces, Marinades Grilling , Cooking/Simmering Sauces and Grinders/Rubs received 9 (nine) 2007 Scovie Awards.In the industry's most rigorous blind tastings, a panel of the country's top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world's most lauded gourmet foods, and the top scoring products each won a coveted Scovie banner.
Extra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce, Wild Herb Peri-Peri Sauce, Hot Peri-Peri Marinade and Curry Coconut Cooking Sauce received the awards for Nando's in the Hot Sauce, Beverages, Prepared Sauces-Stir Fry, Grilling Categories . Over 700 products from around the world competed for top honors.The Scovie Awards were created by Dave DeWitt, editor of Fiery-Foods & BBQ Magazine and founder of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show. The awards are named for Wilbur Scoville who pioneered a rating scale for spicy foods and have become the industry standard for excellence in more than 60 categories of fiery foods.
“Every year, I am increasingly impressed with the diversity and quality of the products entered in the Scovie Awards,” notes Dave DeWitt, dubbed by the New York Times as the “Pope of Peppers” and the author of over 30 books on fiery cuisines.“Our winners this year include not only great product diversity, but geographic diversity as well.This year, our winners represent companies from 32 states and four countries.This year's Scovie winners truly exemplify the diversity and quality of this industry.”
Nando's Peri-Peri Sauces WIN 9 SCOVIE AWARDS
Many of the Scovie award winning products, as well as thousands of other products, will be available to both trade buyers and consumers at the 19th Annual National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show, March 2-4 in Albuquerque, NM.For information on exhibiting in the National Fiery Foods Show, call 505-873-8680, or visit www.fiery-foods.com.
Many Thanks to all of you (yes, well over 120 arrived) for coming out to the braai last Sunday. We had an incredible turnout and the most wonderful Carolina weather. Folks even drove up from South Carolina. A very special “Thank You” to our sponsors of the Lucky Draw prizes and give-aways :
Salome JoubertofBiltong USA for the Hamper of wonderful SA goodies & special prices on meat & biltong Nando'sfor all the grilling sauces and marinades Tracy-lee Kropmanof Premier Designs jewelry for two beautiful boxed jewelry sets Juluka magazine for all the magazines Zebra Restaurant in SouthPark for a $25 Gift Certificate
Also to Sue Ilse and Bernadine Nagel of Gastonia, NC for arranging the venue and for helping with the event planning - Thanks to you both! See the Photo Gallery on the website for all the pictures! Click on Photo Gallery – then Events – then Braai Event Oct 15 2006 to view them all! If we have made any mistakes with the captions, please let us know and we'll fix immediately – we just couldn't remember all the names with all the photo's! Enjoy!
Dianne Stewart Organizer - South Africans in Charlotte
I have to thank Nick and ultimately Nando's for giving me the chance to try so much of their incredible product line, my “Box of Goodies” is coming to a sorrowful end but is still delivering wonderful flavor in every bottle I pull out. “Warning: Addictive” is right on the label, so here's to the Twelve Step Program that I hope doesn't work. Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Sauce in a nut shell tastes good, you can tell a great deal of time and effort has gone into this sauce and the flavorings compliment each other well. To me, that is the overall consistent attribute that stands out with all of the reviews done for Nando's, the flavor.
Upon breaking the seal, or in this case ripping open the cool little package, the first smell is the Vinegar and follwed by Lemon/Citrus tartness. The Onion and Garlic are there too and come through pretty strong on the second and third inhale. The Lemon aroma may be in second place but is number one when you taste the sauce, very tart if you leave it on the tip of your tongue. I picked up on the Cayenne Pepper smokey undertones and again the flavors go well together- very complimentary.
Nando's Peri-Peri Pepper Sauces The fiery range of chili sauces are not just hot but full of taste. They contain NO preservatives, colorants or additives making the sauces extremely healthy. They can be used as a condiment or as a cooking ingredient.
Made with Peri-Peri Chilies
Fire blended with lots of flavor
For cooking or as a condiment
Same as the condiments used in Nando's Restaurants worldwide
Can be used to increase the heat of any dish
No preservatives, no additives, no colorants or artificial flavorings, MSG or GMO
Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Sauce is a fairly thick sauce, it pours nicely and contains a lot of chunks, seeds and flakes floating around in it. I gave it the finger test to try it on it's own merit and quickly found myself sucking it out of the little packet, you really pick up on everything in it and feel the seeds and chunkiness, it's great. I can also say it packs a nice little kick, Nando's categorizes it at “hot” and it is- to the normal population. We here on the Blog, used to eating straight fire may say “Ah, he thinks he's hot- how cute”. But it has a nice sustaining heat that lingers around for awhile, it keeps your tongue and lips warm pretty well and that's what it's all about isn't it?!
I tried Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Sauce for lunch on a chicken sandwich with a bunch of extras. I put the sauce on the Cheez-its, the pretzels, and dipped my pepperoncini's in it. The Lemon flavor was awesome with the chicken and I enjoyed the sandwich very much, I actually ate half of Wendy's after I finished my two! No prisoners, I go for it all when it comes to eating and especially when it tastes that good.
Conclusion: A testament to how hard the folks at Nando's work, this is just another very fine Hot Sauce that boasts a flavorful addition to anything you decide to try it on. The heat is there and sticks around long enough to make itself known and appreciated. I can say confidently enough, you will enjoy this sauce.
Packaging/Label: 7 out of 10 (cool little packet) Aroma: 9 out of 10 Taste: 9 out of 10 Heat: 7 out of 10 Overall: 9 out of 10
Posted on 09.23.06 by Vic @ 8:20 am | Comments: 10 Comments |
So now that I can consider myself a Nando's expert, I felt it my duty as an upstanding citizen of the HSB community to give the Non-Heat Seekers a little somthin' somthin'. Nando's Medium Pepper Sauce is that something, following suit with the prior reviews this sauce has a great flavor- with just a little smaller kick to it. Though I would have to admit it's my opinion that it's not much less. I took this bottle on a road trip to Wendy's Aunt & Uncle's house for a little BBQ and taste test, being Non-Heat Seekers they felt it to be hot (light weights). But I can also report everyone enjoyed the taste and raved over the fragrant aroma.
Not wanting to be to repetitive, when opening the Nando's Medium Pepper Sauce you first catch the Vinegar base, that is very quickly accompanied by the wonderful Lemon smell. When your nose becomes accustomed to the Lemon, the Onion and Garlic check in and say hello. And the taste is delightful, quite tart when you hold it on the tip of your tongue. The Lemon is at the front and the pepper mixture stays politely behind and in the wings. You can pick up on the traces of the Cayenne Pepper and the Peri-Peri's give this sauce a nice lingering warmth, it's very nice actually.
“The flavor and fire of Nando's Peri-Peri has its roots in the African Birds Eye Chili. This fiery chili is cultivated in the rich soils and intense heat of Africa, then blended with specially selected herbs and spices, a touch of garlic and a dash of lemon. Made with the same original Nando's Peri-Peri that's used in Nando's restaurants world wide.”
Nando's Medium Pepper Sauce is a fairly thick and medium pouring sauce, it's packed through and through with pieces of Onion and Garlic, flecks of peppers, and pepper seeds that add a very nice texture to it. The color is a deep orange and the label says “Nando's Pepper sauces have no added preservatives or colorants and may thus vary in color.”
“Nando's Pepper sauce is delicious as a pour-on-sauce and as an ingredient in cooking. Use sparingly as a condiment with meat, fish, chicken and seafood, or add 1-2 tsp to casseroles, sauces, pasta dishes, stir fries, etc.”
I topped my Cheeseburger with the Nando's pretty heavily and put it on a Hot Dog shortly after. The meal was good with plenty of Homemade sides; Wendy's Potato and Macaroni Salads and Aunt Carolyn's Cole Slaw all tasted good with the Nando's on them as well. Not quite hot enough for my taste, but plenty hot enough for them- Nando's was the talk of the table.
Conculsion: This sauce has a great flavor and all levels of hot sauce tolerances can be accommodated with this medium heat level, I know not everyone has to have all of their orifices expelling smoke and/or fire with everything they eat like I do- they could only be so lucky! Nando's Medium Pepper Sauce is a very good multifunctional sauce that would go well with and in a lot of dishes, try it.
Packaging/Label: 7 out of 10 Aroma: 9 out of 10 Taste: 9 out of 10 Heat: 6 out of 10 Overall: 8 out of 10
My Favorite Chile story involves a good friend (also the President of the Local Chile growers association) who'd prefer to remain anonymous (for obvious reasons...) He is a big strong South African farmer that has been growing some of the finest chilies in the country, and prides himself that he oversees the very labor intensive harvesting of his lands himself. Because the Chile harvest in Southern Africa is normally late summer, climates can reach as high as 40C (in the shade) so it is necessary to drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration... During the most recent harvest, he was in the field with his workers, proudly wandering around and merrily inspecting the crop of Peri-Peri's ( African Birds Eye) Chiles, picking a chile here and there breaking them open to check the insides ( he farms organic and needs to check for pests) , and tossing the remains back into the field when nature called.. Forgetting that he had been handling Peri-Peri's all morning, he found the closest tree, and did the necessary.... when he started to burn, where normally one shouldn't burn.... He later told me “We we're about a mile away from the house, but it was the quickest mile I've ever run in my life!" "What did you do when you got into the house?” I asked, as I'm always curious to learn new rescue remedies against the burn. "Well,” he said, "I ran straight into the kitchen and opened the fridge..... And there in front of me was the glass milk jug, covered with a fresh milk cloth ..." "And then?” I curiously asked... "And then I just opened my zipper and let it swim" He sheepishly confessed... Since then I've never drunk milk from an open jug again...And the vision of this big bulky farmer with his jewels in the milk jug has been humoring me ever since...
I remember this sauce back in the day when I used to visit Nando's at a local food court. It wasn't hot then. It definitely isn't hot know. Nando's has this sauce at the top of their heat chart. If Nando's is trying to compete with the Frank's and Tabasco's then they are on the right track. If they want to compete with Hatari, CaJohn, or Scotty B's……well then they have to up the ante when it comes to a premium sauce.
For the mainstream taste buds though this is a good sauce. And people who want a step up from Frank's or Tabasco then they will love this. It has enough kick to round up herd mentality taste buds and zing em good.
At best this will make do in a pinch. I put some (by some I mean a lot) in some rice and vegetables and had to go back for more. It has a very nice flavour, I will give it that.
Thankfully this isn't the chemical catastrophe that their hot marinade listed out for me. I am back in familiar territory and maybe that is why I enjoy this sauce. I won't give up any of my other great sauces for this but like I said it will make do in a pinch. There is flavour aplenty but they have kept it bland enough to make this sauce versatile. Weird I know but if you try it you will see what I mean.The burn is quite decent
As for the overall heat, the burn is quite decent. Lingers for a bit at the top of the mouth but doesn't scorch going down. I could safely put this in middle of the medium level of hot category. If this is the hottest Nando's is willing to go then they are playing it safe.
I wouldn't rush out to get this but there is nothing I can say to knock it either. It has decent flavour, a nice colour and is an all around good sauce. I say it give it a try if that is all your big chain supermarket has to offer.
Packaging 7/10 – Like I have said – better colours needed to help identify this sauce in a line-up Aroma 7/10 - Peppery Appearance 7/10 – Red Taste 7/10 – Good Heat 6/10 – Nice burn – but not too hot
This is my first in a series of reviews of Nando's Line-up. I am somewhat familiar with their products as I use to frequent one at a food court at lunch many years ago. There aren't that many around but knowing that their products are available is great.
So what can money buy you in the hot sauce world? Well it looks like it can buy quite a bit. Obviously a marketing strategy was thought out. The graphics, web-site, packaging are all top notch. It can also buy you an impressive ingredients list – the likes of which I have no idea of what they are (wait for my hot peri-peri marinade review). But the bottom line is…does it taste good? I will admit I tried some from my finger and it was very citrusy. Maybe too much so. But it resulted in nothing conclusive.
I opened up this bottle and was expecting a blast of lime and cilantro. What I got was…….well not much. It did have a faint aroma to it but nothing as powerful as I would have expected. The presentation of this bottle and the sauce inside seemed to invite a very strong smell. It wasn't till I had some pork chops marinating for a few hours did I really start to notice a zesty smell.
The sauce itself poured out nicely. It is medium in viscosity and created a nice bond with the meat. The sight is pleasant with lots of green chunks to enhance the presentation of the meat. So far, so good. But like I said…..does it taste good?!?!?
So with some rice and vegetables cooking up I heated up the skillet for the pork chops. What I thought was great is that half way through the cooking process the marinade didn't start to burn against the skillet. It held up right through the cooking process and even wafted some great vapors in the air. The finished product lost some of the colour from the marinade but the taste carried through in spades. These were by far the most tangy pork chop I ever had. My Hot Sauce Hottie and I agreed that these were some great pork chops. We enhanced the rice, vegetables and pork with some of the Nando's Lemon & Herb Grinder (review coming soon). The final result was a delicious, perfect balanced meal of zingy, zesty chops, rice and vegetables.
This next comment may put me in the land of political incorrectness, but I found that this marinade is almost feminine. It is delicate and sweet. In fact, guys, this could be a date marinade. Just throw it over some lobster, or shrimp and………
To get back to my comment on can money buy you taste. Well this review is inconclusive as I have found just as good a marinade with independent products (find them yourself or make it yourself). The bottom line is that it is good. Not the absolute greatest but very good nonetheless. If you don't want to make your own marinade or not sure which is the best on the shelf to choose from, you can't go wrong with this. Great Stuff!!!
Packaging 7/10 – Colours are dull – if you wear glasses for reading good luck Aroma 5/10 – Not bad – just not very noticeable Appearance 8/10 – Looks very nice Taste 8/10 – VERY tangy with citrus flavour Heat 1/10 – Heat is not a factor
Posted on 08.01.06 by Vic @ 6:12 am | Comments: 3 Comments |
If you remember back from my first Nando's review, I tore into Nick's box of goodies and “my” first product choice was redirected by my better half, this was the first item “I” wanted to try. So finally after what I feel is a good amount of feild testing, here it is. And believe me it's worth the wait!
By now you've seen and read a lot of information about Nando's products, to me each of them is uniquely different and stands proudly on their own representing well their ingredients and it's own individual taste. This item from them is no different- Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Grind is awesome. “Yeah yeah we know, you like everything you try Vic”. I hear you and your probably not to far from the truth, but I can tell you I have not been given something to review that I've hated or tatsed bad- guess I've been lucky so far. And in continuance of my luck, I have a bottle Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Grind to use whenever I want or more accurately until I kill this bottle in the next couple of meals or so.
As you can see there is a lot of stuff in this mixture; whole peppercorns, good size pepper flakes, seeds, and a bunch of flavor. Also nicely hidden in there is some pretty good heat! You can actually smell it when you break the seal. You can detect the salt if you're like us and not use it much, Sea Salt has a distinct aroma and it's pronounced in this blend. Quickly jumping out were the Onion and Garlic with what I thought were the Peri-Peri's, a nice dryed pepper smell following closely behind. It's a warm pleasant overall smell with a kick in the tongue when you taste it.
Spice of Inspiration! Taunt your taste buds with this inviting African blend of Coarse Sea Salt, African Birds Eye Peppers (Peri-Peri Peppers), Lemon and Garlic. Spice up all your meals with this hot and passionate blend. Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Grind is fabulous over grilled chicken, meats, fish, pizza, fries & burgers. Add full, fiery flavor to pasta dishes, salads, baked potatoes, soups & curries
Field Test: After much thought on what to try this on, I think I just confused myself. All the back and forth decisions on what food would go good with it, what dish would look good on the Blog, and Damn I look good! After my first choice of good old home made Spaghetti, it was on!- This stuff is going to compliment almost every type of meal I could whip up.
I put it generously on a suateed Strip Steak with Mushrooms and Onions, a side of Brocoli Rice, and a lightly toasted Garlic Baguette. You can see the I put it on everything, and picked up just about every granule with my finger.
And also on the Neice's “Famous in Her Own Mind” Pork Chop ala' Cream of Mushroom Soup Casserole with Mashed Potatoes and biscuits. Always a crowd favorite! everything I put the Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Grind on accented the flavorings well and did not overdue and/or steal the meals flavor.
Conculsion:Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Grind is a very versatile dry spice blend, with a suprisingly amount of sustainable heat. The heat is warm and hangs around in your mouth long enough to really relish it. I enjoyed this grind thoroughly, it went well with everything I tried it on. As directed be sure to replace the cap tightly and always store in a cool, dry place to keep the product fresh. Nando's also suggests not use this product over steaming pots but beyond that, the sky is the the limit. Enjoy….
Packaging/Label: 7 out of 10 Aroma: 9 out of 10 Taste: 8 out of 10 Heat: 8 out of 10 Overall: 9 out of 10
Story by Dave DeWitt
Photos by Dave DeWitt and Mary Jane Wilan
Recipes by Rochelle Schaetzl and Nancy Gerlach
Chile peppers lured us to South Africa. One was a popular pickled pepper that was the focus of a plant patent matter that I was consulting on. The other was the Peri-Peri, the principal pepper used in the hot sauces of Nando's, a large chain of spicy chicken restaurants based in South Africa.
The adventure began with email from Derek Harms, a barrister who was handling a legal action challenging a plant patent. Would I consult on the case as an expert? Yes, I replied. Would I travel to South Africa as the client's guest expert and testify at the hearing in front of the Registrar of Plant Patents of the South Africa Department of Agriculture? You bet!
By a weird coincidence, I also had email from another South African deeply involved with peppers, Chris Thorpe, the general manager of the international grocery division of Nando's. Chris offered me a tour of South Africa and the Nando's operations there if I were ever in the country. I replied yes, of course, and told him about legal case I was consulting on and a deal was struck. The first week I'd be in Pretoria for the hearing, but after that Chris would show us around his country.
Nando's Chickenmobile
Pretoria and Johannesburg
To get to South Africa, we first flew from Albuquerque to Minneapolis, where we caught a flight to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. That remarkable airport has both a casino and a museum! We were able to change our dollars for rand, the currency of South Africa. Then we boarded the nonstop flight to Johannesburg that went nearly the entire length of the African continent. At the airport, we were picked up by a polite but reticent driver who drove us to the Holiday Inn in Pretoria, the capital of the country. Our room overlooked a lovely garden of tropical plants surrounding the swimming pool.
For the first few days I was constantly in meetings with Derek as we planned out the testimony for the hearing. During the down time, we did touristy things like visiting National Zoo and the impressive Voortrekker Monument that was a tribute to the Dutch settlers. I also watched several rugby matches which I enjoyed enormously. We ate hotel food that was pretty good, including bobotie, a curry mince pie, fiery mutton chops, chicken that tasted like chicken in the old days, and spicy masala chickpeas. However, the South African beer was very disappointing. All the brands are owned by South African Breweries, which also owns Miller Beer in the U.S., and although there is a great wine tradition in South Africa, the beers are very ordinary.
The hearing in the plant patent case went very well, but I had to do fight off an aggressive attorney for the other side who kept trying to put words in my mouth. But I had previous experience in court, kept my cool, and some of my sarcastic replies to questions made the Registrar laugh. I can't really go into the details of the case, and as of this writing, the Registrar had not ruled, more than two months later. With the work over, it was time for some fun. Big game fun.
Kruger National Park
Chris picked us up at the hotel in a van that held numerous other people, including his girlfriend Valerie; Selwyn Bron, the personal assistant to the owner of Nando's, Robbie Brozin; Rochelle Schaetzl, director of new product development. John Paidoussi, the CEO of the grocery division of Nando's and his wife, Dawn, met with us later that evening.
View of the Crocodile River from the Verandah of Robbie's Lodge. A Nile Crocodile.
We were headed to Robbie's lodge at Leopard Creek, the exclusive golf estate just across the Crocodile River from Kruger National Park. The three-hour drive on excellent highways took us through rolling grassland, patches of forests, lakes with trout in them, and mountain passes—but no jungles. Forget jungles, because South Africa doesn't have them.
Dave and Rochelle
Apparently Robbie does a lot of entertaining at his lodge, because the five bedrooms were beautifully decorated and each had its own luxurious bath. There was cable TV for watching the rugby matches, or you could go out on the verandah and watch the hippos in the Crocodile River or the vervet monkeys in the trees. I'm no expert, but the golf course was amazingly beautiful, with ponds and perfectly manicured greens. There were birds like fish eagles and little antelopes called bushbucks everywhere. That night, Rochelle, who's the de facto Nando's Official Corporate Chef, prepared an amazing dinner with nearly every course spiced up with various Nando's products, especially their Peri-Peri sauces.
Hippo Crossing
The next day we took an 8-hour tour of Kruger National Park with the hopes of seeing the Big Five: elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, lion, and leopard. Paved roads loaded with elephant and other animals' droppings took us through the park, and only at official tourist stops with buildings were we allowed to get out of the van. Our hosts were extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife. The scenery was pure savannah, with open spaces, brush, acacia trees, and the occasional watering hole. Finally, we were in what looked like the African plains of the movies.
An Elephant in Kruger National Park
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, Selwin, and Chris even prepared a bush breakfast for us at one of the camps, fired up with Nando's sauces, of course.
Chris and Selwyn Cooking Up a Bush Breakfast
Cape Town
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 approximately 560 restaurants in 32 countries, and they plan to expand into the U.S. starting in late 2007 with a restaurant in Washington, D.C. They also have dozens of products on the market, including hot sauces and other condiments. Their products are available at www.nandosusa.com. Mary Jane fell in love with their Perinaise, a mayo with hot sauce added, but that's not yet available in the U.S. (Fudge it by adding your favorite peri-peri sauce with a good mayonnaise to taste.)
View of Cape Town from Table Mountain
Chris took us to a Nando's location in Parktown North in J-Burg, and I ordered the 1/4 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 U.S. 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 beaches at sea level rise to thousands of feet high at 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!
Entrance to Lanzerac Manor and Winery
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 are hoping to develop their own variety of Peri-Peri. I will be working with them on this project.
Dave Inspects the First Peri-Peri Planting
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. It stretches over about 1200 acres with the magnificent Table Mountain as a backdrop.
View of Table Mountain from Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens
Another fascinating nature display is Boulders, the part of Table Mountain National Park that is host to hundreds of African penguins (formerly 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.
March of the Penguins
Last but not least in Cape Town was the shopping, especially at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, which is a large mall that offers every possible kind of native art and craft plus more than forty ethnically diverse restaurants. I'm not a fan of shopping, but this place is great, and we found the perfect piece of folk art for our collection: a five-foot long beaded lizard, with the beads in the shape of monitor lizards on its back. Magnificent! And affordable.
All good things must end, as did our first trip to South Africa. But we'll be back, and soon.
Peri Peri Sauce: A blend of African birds eye chiles combined with lemons, garlic, and mixture of herbs and spices. Comes in medium heat, hot, xtra -hot, and garlic.
Roasted Reds Sauce: A Mediterranean inspired sauce with roasted sweet red peppers and tomatoes blended with balsamic vinegar and a hint of Peri Peri.
Moroccan Curry Cooking Sauce: A combination of chickpeas, lentils, cumin, curry and a hint of Peri Peri.
Curry Coconut Cooking Sauce: A Goan curry containing coconut, cumin, cardamom, and a hint of Peri Peri.
Sweet Apricot Cooking Sauce: A blend of summer vegetables, apricot chutney, honey, and spices, with a hint of Peri Peri.
Ideal as a starter (appetizer) course, these crispy chicken wings can also be prepared under the broiler on your stove.
12 chicken wings
2/3 cup Nando's Sweet Apricot Cooking Sauce
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons Nando's Mild Peri Peri Sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
Combine the Nando's Sweet Apricot Cooking Sauce, honey, Nando's Mild Peri Peri Sauce, and soy sauce in a bowl. Reserve some for basting. Add the chicken, toss to coat and marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Preheat the grill to medium-high.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill for 12 to 15 minutes, turning and basting frequently with the reserved marinade.
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