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 Connecticut
Post – Sunday, October 10, 1999
Perks
Peri-Peri Debuts at Albuquerque Fiery Foods Show
Perks
Peri-Peri Available at Smithsonian
Local
Entrepreneur's Traditional African Sauces Becoming HOT
STUFF
Connecticut
Post – Sunday, October 10, 1999
By SUSAN BANFlELD - Correspondent
Chinese
cuisine has its Szechwan dishes, Mexico its hot chili’s, Indian
cooking its very spicy curries, and African cuisine has … If
you can't finish that sentence, you are Steven Perkins of Milford,
the not alone. However, thanks to missing word - "peri-peri"
- may soon be as familiar to Americans as such ethnic spices as
chili or curry powder are now.
Steve
Perkins spent the first 15 years of his life in South Africa,
and finding it impossible to shake his homesickness for his native
land, he looked for a way of "introducing Africa to the United
States."
The
method he hit upon was its cuisine. "I would come home from
work, pour myself a glass of wine, and work in the kitchen until
three or so in the morning;' Perkins recalls.
Today
he is successfully marketing a line of sauces he developed based
on the small red chili pepper known as peri-peri.
Peri-peri
was introduced to Africa 400 years or so ago by Spanish and Portuguese
spice traders, and now is widely used throughout the continent both
as a seasoning and on its own as a condiment. Perkins's "Perks
Peri-Peri" sauces are available in Stop & Shop supermarkets
throughout Connecticut, and are featured in the restaurant at Walt
Disney World's new theme park, Animal Kingdom.
Perkins
was born in South Africa 36 years ago. When he was 15, his
family moved to London for two years.
After
that, his father, mother and brother went on to the United States.
Young Steve, missing Africa, returned to his homeland for several
years.
Eventually,
in 1984, he joined his family in the United States where he went
to work in the family auto business. (His father, Dan Perkins, founded
the dealership group which today includes Chevrolet, Subaru, Oldsmobile,
and Saturn dealerships.)
Steve
Perkins eventually rose to the rank of president of the Chevrolet,
Oldsmobile, and Subaru divisions, the position he holds today. But
he still missed his homeland badly.
He
missed the weather, the beauty of the countryside (on weekends,
while a youngster, he would often spend time on the game reserves),
but above all the people.
"I
love South Africans," Perkins says, particularly the black
community. The people are so warm, courteous, and outgoing. I love
being among people like that."
He
adds that the sense of community and the sense of family are very
important in South Africa. "Everyone knows everyone. South
Africans are very close knit' he says.
So,
in 1993, Perkins returned to South Africa for nine months. During
that time he got involved with a chain of restaurants where, he
says, "I did it all." The chain was one of several in
South Africa known as "peri-peri restaurants" — because
all their food is based on the popular native seasoning.
When
Perkins returned to the United States, he was a man with a mission.
"America doesn't have peri-peri," he says. So he worked
on bringing it here.
After
several years of intensive work in his kitchen. Perkins developed
a line of distinctive sauces, which he named "African
Heat", "Wild Garlic",
"Safari Citrus",
"Lemon Blast", "Teriyaki",
"PeriYaki" and "Finger
Lickin". All use peri-peri
in combination with other ingredients.
The
sauces contain no preservatives, and use only fresh and natural
ingredients.
By
1997, Perkins was ready to give America its first taste of peri-peri.
The product line was officially launched at the 1997 National Fiery
Foods Show in Albuquerque, N.M. The sauces won two prizes.
Perkins
then turned his attention to winning accounts. He recalls that he
got an account with Zabar's gourmet deli on Manhattan's Upper West
Side, and also became the second food product ever to be sold at
the Smithsonian Museum Gift Shop.
By
this time Perkins had found a supplier out of Boston who could get
him all the peri-peri he needed. The importer in turn recommended
a bottler. Gourmet Food Products of Thomaston proved to be careful,
clean, even "fastidious." Perkins then proceeded to set
up a Web site for his new company —www.PerksPeriPeri.com.
One
day chef Leonard Thompson of Orlando's Grand Floridian Hotel was
surfing the net as part of the research on authentic African cuisine
he was doing for the soon-to-be Animal Kingdom at Disney World.
Thompson
stumbled upon Perkins's site and called him up. Perkins was asked
to come down to Orlando and demonstrate his products. He has been
invited back several times since, and his sauces are now used
by the chefs at the restaurant at Animal Kingdom, as well as being
available for sale there.
This
past summer, Perkins approached the buyers at Stop
& Shop supermarkets about the possibility of marketing
the Perks line there. Today, all the Stop & Shops in Connecticut
carry the sauces. Where does Perkins hope to go from here? He
is optimistic about the future of his line. He senses that interest
in things African is picking up.
"In
South Africa we feel it is our time," he says. "We call
it the African Renaissance." This growing interest, he says,
can only help his products.
Disney
World is already making frozen chicken breasts marinated and cooked
in peri-peri sauce for its own use. Perkins has considered making
his own frozen dishes and other prepared foods at some point down
the line.
Steve
Perkins can even envision the day when a chain of peri-peri restaurants
(his own?) will do as well here in the U.S. as they do in South
Africa.
PERKS PERI-PERI
DEBUTS AT ALBUQUERQUE FIERY FOODS SHOW
Ages-old
African Recipe Introduced To America
"I've
used 'em all", said one convert, "and let me tell you...
Perks Peri-Peri is like lightning in a bottle".
"It
starts on the tip of your tongue, then heats up your whole mouth,
warms the extremities, and, finally, explodes in your brain and
your whole body tingles", said another.
Then
there was the friend who remarked, with some humor, "it's
so damn good, I don't care if it shortens my life!"
What
they're talking about is the "flame from Africa", Perks
Peri-Peri, a wonderfully hot and spicy marinade and basting
sauce making its way onto the American market.
"The
Peri-Peri bean, grown only in Africa and the Iberian Peninsula,
is the source of our distinctive flavor", says Steve Perkins,
founder and owner. "Then we add fresh lemons, onions, chiles,
and other natural spices to create a final blend that represenets
a whole new taste in the fiery foods arena", he continued.
In
fact there are a number of taste thrills in the full Perks Peri-Peri
line, which can be used to enhance the flavor of any foods;
such as soups, stews, salads, dips, chicken, beef and seafood.
Museum
Gems for Your Gift List
By Fritz Hahn
Washingtonpost.com Staff
Wednesday, November 11, 1998
National Museum of Natural History
This museum has long been known for the gifts that come out of its
mineral and gemstone shop, ranging from a pin shaped like the Hope
Diamond ($70) to necklaces made out of rich blue lapis or onyx accented
with 14-carat gold ($65). But the Natural History Museum is also
a catch-all for collections representing the peoples of Africa,
Asia and South America, and this is reflected in the offerings in
the newly expanded gift shop, which takes up a good part of the
ground floor. Besides all the books and videos, for example, cooks
with an international palate can experiment with Perks' Peri-Peri
extra hot sauce, imported from South Africa ($4.50), or Yucatan
Sunshine hot sauce, made with Habanero peppers ($3). Decorators
with an international streak can choose from wide-faced Peruvian
funeral masks ($84) or carved, painted masks from the Ivory Coast
($85). More interesting is an elephant mask from Cameroon; the trunk
is inset with small mollusk shells and coins from France and Nigeria
and other African countries. And the museum sells Christmas tree
ornaments as well – colorful glass-blown fish from Europe ($4.50)
and Japanese dolls that resemble tiny, tasseled drums ($6.95).
© Copyright
1998 The Washington Post Company
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