Make a batch. Rub it on a chicken thigh. Grill until the skin crackles. Then understand why a blend of chilies and salt has survived centuries of empires, oceans, and migrations. Some flavors don’t need complexity. They just need conviction.
There is no sugar. There is no molasses. There is only fire, earth, and citrus.
Also spelled Peri Peri , the name derives from the Swahili word for "pepper pepper" ( pili pili ), a nod to the African roots of the bird’s eye chili. This rub is the love child of Portuguese culinary technique (heavy on garlic, paprika, and oil) and African indigenous heat. It is rustic, unapologetic, and designed not to mask meat but to become one with its crust. At its core, Piri Piri dry rub is a coarse, aromatic blend of dried bird’s eye chilies, garlic, paprika, citrus zest (or dried lemon), and herbs like oregano or bay. Unlike many BBQ rubs that lean sweet (brown sugar) or smoky (chipotle), Piri Piri is defined by pungency , acidity , and lingering capsaicin heat .
In the pantheon of global spice blends, few carry the same balance of primal heat and citrusy brightness as Piri Piri. Most people know it as a sauce—that tangy, garlicky, red lava drenching peri-peri chicken at fast-casual chains. But before the sauce, there was the dry rub. And in many ways, the dry rub is the truer, more intense expression of Piri Piri.
