What are capers? 3 easy recipes that make the most of this salty, tangy bud
The bold, tangy magic of capers and caper berries helps elevate dishes such as pasta puttanesca, salsa verde and beurre noisette
Until some years ago, the only capers I had seen came in a jar. But on a trip to Israel, a friend showed me a caper bush growing wild near her house.
I probably would not recognise the bush again if I saw it, because, to my untrained eye, it looked like almost any other bush – even the edible flower bud did not look that distinctive.
Unfortunately, I missed out on my one opportunity to eat a raw caper, so I have only tasted them after they have been turned into a condiment. The most common way to preserve capers is by pickling them, but they can also be salted.
And although the caper is a fairly common ingredient, the fruit of the plant, called the caper berry, which is preserved the same way, is not as well known.
In their most common form, the small buds are picked just before they bloom and are pickled in vinegary brine. They are also sometimes preserved in salt. The brine or salt is usually rinsed from the capers before use.