6 ms·

I make my own hot sauce, but they were all kind of blah until I started growing my own chilis. I grow the bird’s eye chilis (piri piri) that is an important pa

I make my own hot sauce, but they were all kind of blah until I started growing my own chilis. I grow the bird’s eye chilis (piri piri) that is an important part of a number of Portuguese dishes that I like, including wonderful piri piri oil that I drizzle on many things. I always have extra chilis at the end of the year so I make sauce. There is a Portuguese sauce made from fermented red (sweet, large) peppers that I’ve never been able to get right though. Finding a recipe online is tough because this is a family recipe that gets passed down, many families have their own take on it, and I’m in California and don’t have any Portuguese relatives. If anyone makes massa de pimentão and has a recipe please share

silisili 2y ago
If you haven't already tried them, take a look at siling labuyo. They are a little smaller and hotter, and IMO better tasting. I've had tons of luck growing them in the US, even indoors over a winter once(light lamp). I like them so much I picked my username after them :)
- MarkMarine 2y ago
  Thanks for the recommendation, where did you get seeds for them?
  - silisili 2y ago
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/333733398766 https://www.ebay.com/itm/333733398766 I bought my last batch from that link and they tasted perfect. I used to just get them from local Filipino stores/communities, if you have any. A lot of people grew them when I was in Florida. My last house was in the desert, and wasn't able to find any locally so bought those off ebay.
vram22 2y ago
>started growing my own chilis I thought / have observed that the spelling "chili" (single letter l) was used for the US / Mexican dish called "chili con carne", and the spelling "chilly/chillies" was used for the hot pepper that came from the Americas and spread to much of the world. Edit: Wikipedia says both spellings are used for the hot pepper: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper Edit 2: See the Spelling and usage section. It does not mention the y ending, but I have seen it in India.
- harrisi 2y ago
  I've never seen or heard of anyone using "chilly" to mean anything other than cold. I'm from Portland, but I've also lived in San Francisco and Tucson.
  - vram22 2y ago
    I think in India it is the commonly used spelling, and maybe in Britain and Australia too. But not sure about the latter two, need to check.
    - hermitcrab 2y ago
      usually "Chilli" in the UK.
    - metaphor 2y ago
      A few relevant points made by Govindarajan in this 1985 paper[1]: > Chilli or Chili, a name now commonly used in Asia and Africa, is said to have come from the Nahautl dialect of Mexico and Central America. > The U.S. Government Standard divided Capsicum into types corresponding to commercial types; paprika, red pepper, ground and crushed. The term "chilli" is not generally used in the U.S., but is used in Britain, India, Africa, and the countries in the East. > The British Standard Specifications, however, differentiate between chillies and capsicum, obviously based on the degree of pungency. It gives no values but describes "chillies" as pungent small fruits of certain forms of the species C. frutescens L. and describes Capsicum as of varied sizes, generally big, of the species, C. annuum L. [1] https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/10408398509527412 https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/10408398509527412
    - OJFord 2y ago
      Chilli/chillies in the Britain, but chilly/chillies is certainly a more typical looking pair, logic's on your side!
      - fuzztester 2y ago
        Cool, er, hot! ;)
annoyingnoob 2y ago
I like to mix Malagueta with good olive oil.
- MarkMarine 2y ago
  The piri piri oil recipe from Nuno Mendes’s book is amazing. Cook down lemons, spices with Piri Piri (dry and fresh both) and throw some uncracked pepper corns in with the dry peppers directly into the jar with great quality olive oil, it’s my favorite condiment
odshoifsdhfs 2y ago
Massa de pimentao has various recipes (as pretty much any sauce here). You can even buy in store different brands that have different flavour profiles. I guess you will have to tweak a more generic recipe to match the flavour you are looking for (or if you have some brand/restaurant you like, I can try and see if I can find it).
- MarkMarine 2y ago
  The recipe from “My Lisbon” had two versions, one that you ferment, one that you make with wine vinegar and don’t ferment. Both of the recipes calls for roasting the peppers under low heat (my oven min is 170F) for an hour or so to drive off some water… every time I do that I think I kill off the lacto. I get mold every time I try the fermented version. If you know of any family recipes I would love to hear them! Also I’d love to hear about the tech scene in Portugal, my wife and I have been thinking of moving the family there
  - hermitcrab 2y ago
    >every time I do that I think I kill off the lacto. I have seen some people recommend to put some fresh chillis in with the roasted ones for this reason. >I get mold every time I try the fermented version. It is airtight? Is the brine salty enough (2-3% salt to water usually recommended)?
    - MarkMarine 2y ago
      I’m following the same process I use for other fermentation without issues in the other ones, 2% salt to water, mason jar with a bubbler, I actually go over and above with this one because I’ve had problems… I double clean everything, I use acid sanitizer from beer brewing to make sure the jars and lids and everything is clean, I don’t leave it uncapped unless I’m working next to a candle (a technique to keep falling spores out of yeast samples from home brewing) I’ll try adding some fresh peppers in just for the lacto and try again.

silisili 2y ago

If you haven't already tried them, take a look at siling labuyo. They are a little smaller and hotter, and IMO better tasting. I've had tons of luck growing them in the US, even indoors over a winter once(light lamp). I like them so much I picked my username after them :)

MarkMarine 2y ago
Thanks for the recommendation, where did you get seeds for them?
- silisili 2y ago
  https://www.ebay.com/itm/333733398766 https://www.ebay.com/itm/333733398766 I bought my last batch from that link and they tasted perfect. I used to just get them from local Filipino stores/communities, if you have any. A lot of people grew them when I was in Florida. My last house was in the desert, and wasn't able to find any locally so bought those off ebay.

vram22 2y ago

>started growing my own chilis I thought / have observed that the spelling "chili" (single letter l) was used for the US / Mexican dish called "chili con carne", and the spelling "chilly/chillies" was used for the hot pepper that came from the Americas and spread to much of the world. Edit: Wikipedia says both spellings are used for the hot pepper: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper Edit 2: See the Spelling and usage section. It does not mention the y ending, but I have seen it in India.

harrisi 2y ago
I've never seen or heard of anyone using "chilly" to mean anything other than cold. I'm from Portland, but I've also lived in San Francisco and Tucson.
- vram22 2y ago
  I think in India it is the commonly used spelling, and maybe in Britain and Australia too. But not sure about the latter two, need to check.
  - hermitcrab 2y ago
    usually "Chilli" in the UK.
  - metaphor 2y ago
    A few relevant points made by Govindarajan in this 1985 paper[1]: > Chilli or Chili, a name now commonly used in Asia and Africa, is said to have come from the Nahautl dialect of Mexico and Central America. > The U.S. Government Standard divided Capsicum into types corresponding to commercial types; paprika, red pepper, ground and crushed. The term "chilli" is not generally used in the U.S., but is used in Britain, India, Africa, and the countries in the East. > The British Standard Specifications, however, differentiate between chillies and capsicum, obviously based on the degree of pungency. It gives no values but describes "chillies" as pungent small fruits of certain forms of the species C. frutescens L. and describes Capsicum as of varied sizes, generally big, of the species, C. annuum L. [1] https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/10408398509527412 https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/10408398509527412
  - OJFord 2y ago
    Chilli/chillies in the Britain, but chilly/chillies is certainly a more typical looking pair, logic's on your side!
    - fuzztester 2y ago
      Cool, er, hot! ;)

annoyingnoob 2y ago

I like to mix Malagueta with good olive oil.

MarkMarine 2y ago
The piri piri oil recipe from Nuno Mendes’s book is amazing. Cook down lemons, spices with Piri Piri (dry and fresh both) and throw some uncracked pepper corns in with the dry peppers directly into the jar with great quality olive oil, it’s my favorite condiment

odshoifsdhfs 2y ago

Massa de pimentao has various recipes (as pretty much any sauce here). You can even buy in store different brands that have different flavour profiles. I guess you will have to tweak a more generic recipe to match the flavour you are looking for (or if you have some brand/restaurant you like, I can try and see if I can find it).

MarkMarine 2y ago
The recipe from “My Lisbon” had two versions, one that you ferment, one that you make with wine vinegar and don’t ferment. Both of the recipes calls for roasting the peppers under low heat (my oven min is 170F) for an hour or so to drive off some water… every time I do that I think I kill off the lacto. I get mold every time I try the fermented version. If you know of any family recipes I would love to hear them! Also I’d love to hear about the tech scene in Portugal, my wife and I have been thinking of moving the family there
- hermitcrab 2y ago
  >every time I do that I think I kill off the lacto. I have seen some people recommend to put some fresh chillis in with the roasted ones for this reason. >I get mold every time I try the fermented version. It is airtight? Is the brine salty enough (2-3% salt to water usually recommended)?
  - MarkMarine 2y ago
    I’m following the same process I use for other fermentation without issues in the other ones, 2% salt to water, mason jar with a bubbler, I actually go over and above with this one because I’ve had problems… I double clean everything, I use acid sanitizer from beer brewing to make sure the jars and lids and everything is clean, I don’t leave it uncapped unless I’m working next to a candle (a technique to keep falling spores out of yeast samples from home brewing) I’ll try adding some fresh peppers in just for the lacto and try again.