Portuguese and Madeiran settlers left Mozambique a beachside espetada habit: cubes of beef or whole prawns skewered, basted with garlicky piri-piri butter and grilled over coals at Maputo and Tofo beach bars. The same grill counters feed the country's prego culture, where the espetada meat slides off the stick into a crusty roll.
Also known as: espetada moçambicana, espetadas, spetada, prego (sandwich cousin)
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 600 g beef rump, 4 cm cubes, or 12 large prawns, shell on
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp piri-piri sauce or 2 crushed bird's-eye chilies
- 1 lemon, juiced, plus wedges
- 2 bay leaves, torn
- 60 g butter, melted
- 1.5 tsp salt
- coconut rice or crusty rolls, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Turn the beef or prawns through garlic, piri-piri, lemon juice, torn bay, salt and a spoon of the butter; give it 2 hours (30 minutes is enough for prawns).
- 2
Thread onto long skewers, slipping the marinade's bay pieces between the cubes.
- 3
Grill over hot charcoal — beef 10-12 minutes, prawns 4-6 — turning and mopping with the piri-piri butter each time.
- 4
Pull when the beef is charred outside and pink inside, or the prawn shells are scorched and peeling.
- 5
Squeeze lemon over and serve with the remaining hot butter as a drizzle.
Pro tip: Grill prawns in the shell — it shields them from the piri-piri butter's flare-ups and roasts into the flavor you cannot add later.
The story of Mozambican espetada
Portuguese and Madeiran settlers left Mozambique a beachside espetada habit: cubes of beef or whole prawns skewered, basted with garlicky piri-piri butter and grilled over coals at Maputo and Tofo beach bars. The same grill counters feed the country's prego culture, where the espetada meat slides off the stick into a crusty roll.
The prawn version is the one Mozambique is known for internationally, and with good reason — the country's Indian Ocean prawns are large, sweet and abundant, and piri-piri butter was more or less designed for them. Beef espetada follows the Madeiran template more closely.
The technique that defines it
Piri-piri butter is a baste rather than a marinade, and it is applied repeatedly during grilling. Butter, crushed piri-piri chillies, garlic, lemon and salt are melted together and brushed on every time the skewer is turned, so the fat and the chilli build up in layers rather than being absorbed in advance.
Prawns need the opposite of patience: shell on, split down the back, three or four minutes total over hot coals, basted constantly. Beef takes the Madeiran approach — large cubes, moderate heat, longer cook. The two share the baste and nothing else about their timing.
Choosing your ingredients
Large prawns, shell on and split down the back so the baste reaches the flesh, or beef in generous cubes. Shell-on is not negotiable for the prawns — the shell protects them and holds the butter.
Piri-piri chillies, fresh or dried, crushed. Butter, garlic, lemon juice and salt for the baste. Crusty rolls if you want to make prego-style sandwiches, which is the standard Mozambican move with leftover espetada meat.
Mistakes that ruin it
Peeling the prawns
The shell protects the flesh and holds the baste. Split them down the back instead so the butter gets in.
Using the baste as a marinade
Butter-based bastes solidify and do not penetrate. It goes on repeatedly during grilling, not before.
Overcooking the prawns
Three or four minutes total. They go from sweet to rubbery in under a minute.
Treating beef and prawns the same
Beef wants large cubes and moderate heat over a longer cook; prawns want fast and hot. Only the baste is shared.
How it is served
Off the skewer with bread, chips and a tomato-onion salad, or slid into a crusty roll as a prego. Extra piri-piri on the side. 2M beer. At Tofo it is eaten at a beach bar with the grill in view and no particular hurry.
Questions about Mozambican espetada
Should prawns be peeled before grilling?
No. Grill them shell-on, split down the back so the piri-piri butter reaches the flesh. The shell protects them from drying.
What is piri-piri butter?
Melted butter with crushed piri-piri chillies, garlic, lemon and salt, brushed on repeatedly during grilling as a baste.
What is a prego?
A Portuguese-Mozambican steak or meat roll. Espetada meat slid off the skewer into a crusty roll is the standard grill-counter version.
Beef or prawns?
Both are traditional. Prawns are what Mozambique is known for; beef follows the Madeiran espetada template more closely.
