Frango Piri-Piri

Piri-piri is the Swahili word for pepper, and the chilli itself is a small African cultivar of Capsicum frutescens that Portuguese ships carried between the Americas, Africa and Europe - so the dish is a product of the empire rather than of Portugal alone, and versions of it exist in Mozambique and Angola with equal claim. The Portuguese form is a whole chicken split flat, grilled over charcoal, and repeatedly brushed with an oil infused with piri-piri chillies, garlic and often lemon or vinegar, served with chips and salad. The village of Guia near Albufeira built a reputation on it in the 1960s and 70s and now has a street of churrasqueiras all claiming primacy, which is worth taking with some salt. Every Portuguese town has a churrasqueira doing it, usually for takeaway, and it is ordinary weeknight food rather than a speciality.

Highlights

• The charcoal grill - whole birds split flat and turned over open coals.
• The piri-piri oil - chilli, garlic and lemon or vinegar brushed on repeatedly.
• Guia - a village with a street of competing churrasqueiras since the 1960s.
• The old trade route - a chilli carried between Africa, the Americas and Europe by Portuguese ships.

When to go

Year-round. A meal. Guia's restaurants are busiest in the evening and in summer; local churrasqueiras everywhere do takeaway at lunchtime.

What to expect

Heat varies enormously - ask, because some kitchens make it hot and others barely at all. Guia's competing claims to have invented it are marketing. Portions are large and it comes with chips by default. Busy tourist restaurants in Guia can be mediocre.

Nearby

Albufeira is south on the coast; Praia da Falésia is east.