Boneheads: Piri-piri Chicken
The best, unforgettable peri-peri chicken I’ve ever had was during a vacation in the Middle East two years ago — I tasted it in different places in two different countries and they tasted very similar to each other. Piri piri (or peri peri) is a small spicy pepper grown in South Africa and its neighboring countries which is also known as the African bird’s eye chile. Peri-peri chicken (or shrimp) is grilled chicken (or shrimp) marinated in peri-peri sauce made with peri peri, lemon juice, garlic, paprika, olive oil, and salt. The taste is distinct and totally different from Jamaican jerk chicken.
Boneheads, a quasi fast-food place which is part of Raving Brands (think Mama Fu’s, Moes, doc green’s, Shaun’s) specializes in piri piri chicken. Their piri piri chicken comes in three sizes: whole, half, or breast, and in different flavors: lemon & herb, medium, hot, or very hot. I love spicy food and am known to squeeze raw bird’s eye chili peppers (both African and Asian varieties) into my food. So I tried the hot flavored half chicken which came with seasoned rice, a choice of side (Asian cole slaw), and a topping (I chose cucumber lime and yogurt).
