Piri-piri is an African word for chilli and also a hot chilli sauce used in Portuguese, African and Brazilian cookery

sounds good: I dislike cumin, except in very small quantities, is it very faint in that blend ?

Oh great - now I'm going to have to pick some of the Peri Peri seasoning blend up next time I'm in Orlando. Thanks, you evil enabler! LOL

Here's a link to some uses for it:

Here is a link that might be useful: How to use berbere to add Ethiopian flavor to dishes

We have a Penzey's here in Dallas. I love to go there, and they have sample jars you can sniff, but I sure wish we could taste. Actually, I've never asked if tasting was allowed, but they don't have a sanitary way to taste - just sniff. If you have a Penzey's close by, maybe you could tell by the smell if the cumin is overwhelming. I love, love love cumin myself, but I understand not wanting it to dominate. With all those ingredients, I bet it doesn't.

Thanks for the recommendation, Teresa

Sally

The first thing I notice when I smell this seasoning is fenugreek and cayenne. I don't even notice the cumin. I added sliced fresh gingerroot to the marinade for the chicken. I have a pot of ginger growing in my sun room. The marinade smells wonderful and I can't wait to bake the chicken breasts.

The giveaway at Penzeys was ground Indian cumin seed. I am not particularly fond of cumin either. Penzyes cumin has a nice scent however.

I alway look for new spices, this one sounds interesting:

Peri Peri marinated mahi mahi on couscous! :-)

What do you think? So-so?

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Sun, Jan 20, 13 at 14:55

I love Berbere.. My friend who is ethiopian served this wonderful vegetable stew and I asked her for the recipe. Her mom had made the dish and showed me how she made the spice mix. I have made it a couple of times and it keeps well in a airtight container in the freezer.

2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1âÂÂ2 tsp. black peppercorns
1âÂÂ4 tsp. whole allspice
6 green cardamom pods, peeled and the seeds removed
4 whole cloves
1âÂÂ2 cup dried onion flakes
5 dried red chillies- , stemmed, seeded, and broken into small pieces
3 tbsp. paprika
2 tsp. kosher salt
1âÂÂ2 tsp. nutmeg grated fresh
1âÂÂ2 tsp. ground ginger
2in long piece of cinnamon (or 1/2tsp ground)

1. In a small skillet, dry roast spices over medium heat, swirling skillet constantly, until fragrant. You can combine coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves and toast. But I think it is better to do them each separately. Fenugreek especially can turn really bitter if it is over toasted.
2. Let cool slightly but not cold. Transfer to a spice grinder along with onion flakes and grind until fine. Add chiles, and grind with the other spices until fine. I used a coffee grinder I keep exclusively for spice grinding.
3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in paprika, salt, and ginger. Also add nutmeg and cinnamon if using ground. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

dcarch - I've never tried it with mahi mahi, but it is wonderful with shrimp. Good peri peri chicken is to die for.

Cheryl

Superbowl is coming up. May be just the right seasoning for spicy wings!

I think it will fly!

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 20:13

Peri Peri marinated mahi mahi on couscous! :-) Dcarch - very very funny!

The chicken breasts turned out great. I mixed the Penzeys "Piri Piri" seasoning - about 2 tsp. - into 1/2 cup of yogurt. Then I mixed 1 Tbsp. of olive oil with 1 Tbsp or so of Meyer lemon juice and a little zest. I whisked the yogurt mixture into the oil/lemon juice. I put the chicken in a zip lock bag and spread the yogurt over it. I added ginger slices to the bag along with some garlic slices. I really wanted to grill the chicken, however, -35 degree windchill kept me from doing that. I baked them in my 6 qt. Nesco and they were delicious.

I will have to disagree with you Cheryl. I don't feel the 1/2 cup of yogurt compromised the seasoning blend one bit.

The Penzeys catalog describes their Piri Piri seasoning blend as "awesomely hot and spicy North African-style hot pepper blend. Also known as berbere or bere bere." My own version of Berbere is heavy on fenugreek, garlic, ginger and allspice. And while I add cayenne to my blend - I reserve the bulk of the cayenne and add it when I am actually cooking. That way whatever I am making can be as hot as I want it.

I am thrilled Penzeys had added this blend to their selection. It is a good base for me to start with - and then add additional fenugreek or whatever I like.

This post was edited by teresa_mn on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 14:28

I was introduced to Berbere in Collage by a good friend, Hanah who was from Ethiopia. She would receive the spice from her family. She made a chicken stew using potatoes, carrots, green beans, onions and tomato paste. She would add the spice and cook it for an hour or so. Oh my... she gave me some of the spice which I treasured for a long time. I even tried to replicate it via internet recipes.. not the same. I have learned that each family has their own "special" recipe. I recently purchased some from Market Spice. I am hopeful it is the spice blend I remember. Will let you know.

I bought some of Penzey's Peri Peri the last time I placed an order. I've only managed to use it once so far, but it was VERY hot from all the cayenne pepper (It's the first ingredient on the label.) It has a good flavor because of the other spices but definitely was quite a bit hotter than I expected.

Kevin and I had Ethiopian food for lunch today at a restaurant very close to our house that used to be Lebanese but has recently reopened. The food we had was excellent, and I think we were lucky to find this restaurant soon after it opened. I very much liked their Berbere spice mix, but everything they made was excellent. We will be going back in the near future, but I also want to replicate some of the other spice mixes as well. We have leftovers that I plan to examine tomorrow at dinner to see if I can identify the ingredients, which will be difficult because the flavors are so complex. There were two separate lentil dishes with very different flavors. There was also a separate ground spice mix that was served on the side that may have been a Berbere mix. I'm going to check the African cookbook that Lee sent me to see if it has some of the recipes.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Ethiopian recipes

Lars - I wonder if one of the lentil dishes was seasoned with Niter Kibbeh. An Ethiopian restaurant I frequent has a lentil dish seasoned with it and serves extra on the side.

Here is a link to an article from "The Kitchn" and a recipe for it.

Yes - that is the spelling for kitchen they are using. :-)

This post was edited by teresa_mn on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 12:29

Teresa, yes, one of the lentil dishes was called "Niter Kibbeh", but I don't remember which lentil dish it was. I'll have to make some so that I can identify it when we go back!

Lars

I have made Niter Kibbeh in the past. Not for a while though. Like the writer at the Kitchn said in the article I can't stop eating it! :-)

Has anyone been able make Injeera.. the fermented soft crepes? I would love to try it