Secret(?) Brazilian/Portuguese paste

[petey]

This website has alot of information on piri piri sauce Nandos Peri Peri Sauces. Marinade, Grilling and Cooking Sauces

 

[petey]

The anatto reference is very interesting, but from the details I found on Wikipedia, I doubt that there was any in the Brazilian sauce. It wasn't spicy as such, except maybe a hint of chili which might have actually been green peppers (aka bell peppers?).

But there there might very well be some anatto in that secret Protuguese prego sauce, which is very spicy. Or maybe Larry's Dend Oil. I must try and find these somewhere.

I'm not certain at all that there were carrots in the Brazilian paste .. but in taste it was very much like an intensely rich vegetable stock with a very healthy dose of garlic. In this paste, there was no oil. And it lasted for ages in the fridge .. it was still in perfect shape when we finished it more than 6 months later!

The intense flavour and longevity of it suggested to me that fermentation might have been part of the process, but my flatmate couldn't confirm this. I tried to duplicate it by blending as finely as possible some garlic, celery, carrots, and salt. But it was nowhere close to the original! Even when it "fermented"

'Annato' is not spicy. It is a natural food coloring . The spiciness in the portuguese sauce which i actually think is a marinade is 'piri piri' peppers/chile's.

Cheers!

 

[buckytom]

it sounds a lot like a sofrito.

sofrito is a paste made from peppers, garlic, onions, salt, and herbs like oregano, cumin, and culantro.

often, as the oil heats up initially, annato seeds are added for color, then removed before they burn.

 

[trids]

Thanks for all the excellent feedback, folks!

The batch of Chimichurri sauce that I made up was very good indeed, but not the same as the Brazilian sauce, which has no oil and is a lot more salty.

@Petey, thanks for the PDF recipe! The Tempero certainly seems a likely candidate - especially as it also lasts for so long. I'll be trying that out asap for sure!

As for the Nandos Peri Peri, I know it well and regularly indulge myself with their Chicken livers Peri Peri. Wonderful sauce, but in fact it doesn't taste like the Peri Peri Sauce I grew up with, which was mostly oil. But that's another topic - LOL!


@BuckyTom - I googled for Sofrito and found some interesting recipes, thanks! But none of them was cooked or had oil in them.

I'll feedback once I've tried out the Tempero and Sofrito recipes, and also post some pictures of the local garlic (prego?) sauces I mentioned earlier.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[buckytom]

trids, sofrito is a very regional thing, and is an all-purpose base for many dishes.
imo most sofritos are cooked down in achiote oil, aka anatto flavored oil. others are initially combined raw and stored, and then cooked almost like a roux as a base for a dish when needed.

 

[Jikoni]

This is BBQ chicken cooked with piri piri sauce:

Wow, this looks yummy!

 

[trids]

Well i mixed up a batch of Tempero last night (thanks Petey!) .. and I'm extremely pleased to report that it is the closest to the Brazilian sauce that I've found thus far! And it might get better as it matures, judging by the long shelf life of the original and the comments in the PDF.

It was was a vivid green, fresh after mixing, thanks to the parsley and shallots. But it must have oxidised a bit by this morning, when it was a more olive green tending towards brown. So maybe that explains what I took for an orange hue in the original version .. maybe all the green had faded to brown

Next on my agenda is the local garlic/prego sauce and the possibility that it might be a Sofrito. I'll post some pictures of the originals soon, and hunt down some achiote oil and anatto seeds.

Thanks again Petey -- I think you've hit the nail on the head, with Tempero for the Brazilian sauce/stock/paste!

 

[petey]

Well i mixed up a batch of Tempero last night (thanks Petey!) .. and I'm extremely pleased to report that it is the closest to the Brazilian sauce that I've found thus far! And it might get better as it matures, judging by the long shelf life of the original and the comments in the PDF.

It was was a vivid green, fresh after mixing, thanks to the parsley and shallots. But it must have oxidised a bit by this morning, when it was a more olive green tending towards brown. So maybe that explains what I took for an orange hue in the original version .. maybe all the green had faded to brown

Next on my agenda is the local garlic/prego sauce and the possibility that it might be a Sofrito. I'll post some pictures of the originals soon, and hunt down some achiote oil and anatto seeds.

Thanks again Petey -- I think you've hit the nail on the head, with Tempero for the Brazilian sauce/stock/paste!

Glad to help . Hope that your cooking goes well.

Here's a quick chicken marinade used in Brasil also:

Chicken drumsticks

Oil, fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, & oregano.

Mix it all up a few hour before you grill it.