African Volcano Peri Peri fires up London palates

London's gourmet street food scene has been set alight by African Volcano, a premium peri peri sauce and marinade that showcases the talents of award-winning chef, Grant Hawthorne.

His stall at the Maltby Street food market in Bermondsey SE1 every Saturday is a hit among foodies who can try a variety of peri peri-infused dishes like chicken prego rolls on homemade Portuguese bread, slow-roasted pulled pork on a peri peri bap and giant flame-grilled tiger prawns.

Says Hawthorne: "With the focus on London in 2012, it was an easy decision to leave restaurant kitchens after 26 years and devote time and energy into producing great-quality, affordable street food using my recently-launched brand of peri peri."

He says he was asked a few months ago to bring a taste of his hometown, Cape Town, to the popular Maltby Street food market.

"Peri Peri is not just about chicken," he says, "It can be used to enhance and complement prawns, pork, beef and vegetables - just about anything. People are starting to get adventurous and play with the flavours in a variety of dishes. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and ideas to Tweet and email."

He says: "I've recently been joined at the stall by two guest chefs, Irishman Dave Ahern and chef-author, Alex Watts. We've had some great fun cooking together. Loads of laughs and it helps they're both fans of my peri peri.

"I publish my recipes that incorporate both the sauce and marinade so that people can experiment with them at home."

A donation of 30 pence from every bottle sold supports the initiatives of Habitat for Humanity's Youth Build project in Cape Town.

He says a milder and hotter version of both the sauce and marinade are in the pipeline.

For information about African Volcano, visit africanvolcano.com.

For information about Maltby Street food market, visit maltbystmarket.com.