The Portuguese were making olive oil long before the Romans arrived and today it’s used liberally on almost everything they eat. Olive groves flourished under the Roman rule and even more so when the Moors arrived to settle in the beautiful Iberian region –  the Knights Templar were as enthusiastic about olive production and encouraged it by building presses. Today, as in those days, second crops are grown in the groves and wheat, potatoes, corn or cabbage are grown under the olive trees as a matter of course. Thirty varieties of olive trees are planted on 316,000 hectares of land that are cared for by 190,000 farmers and

75% of the 150 million trees are extremely old. The majority of these trees are left in the mountains to fend for themselves and are harvested by hand and the most important DO areas are the following:

• Trás-os-Montes –the Douro valley, famous for it’s port – yields a high quality, light and very fine oil;
• Beira Alta (Baixa and Interior) – the eastern regions of the Douro yields a greenish yellow, very aromatic and fruity oil;
• Ribatejo* – the famous Ribatejo wine region yields highly valued oil, low production, golden colour, somewhat viscous but very fruity;
• Norte Alentejo – again a famous wine region that yields more viscous, strong flavoured oil from it’s more modern and standard varieties’
• Moura – near the town of Moura and the Serpa regions yields a greenish yellow oil with a delicate bitter flavour and an intense olive aroma using the Galega and Verdeal varieties;

Piri Piri are tiny, very sharp and hot chillies from Angola and are not originally Portuguese but today is probably one of the most favoured condiments in Portugal and seafood and, especially, chicken are liberally flavoured with it.

PIRI-PIRI SAUCE

There are, literally, thousands of recipes for this sauce and no single one is the correct one – some are used immediately, some use a specific ratio of different chillies and some need to be matured for six weeks. This one is a spur of the moment recipe to enjoy reasonably quickly.

Ingredients

• 4 – 5 fresh red habanero peppers, stemmed
• 4 – 5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
• 2  tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, very finely chopped (optional)
• 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

• Combine all ingredients in a grinder and combine into a smooth paste or, should you prefer a pestle and mortar, grind the chillies and garlic first, grinding them into a smooth paste, add the chopped oregano and grind it for another minute  – add the rest of the ingredients mix everything thoroughly.
• Leave the sauce in the fridge to infuse preferably overnight but at least for an hour or two.