Capri pants

Capers are the unopened flower buds of the caper bush, which are hand-picked just before they bloom and preserved in salt or brine.

Capers are the unopened flower buds of the caper bush, which are hand-picked shortly before blooming and preserved in salt or brine.

The caper bush requires plenty of sun, cannot tolerate frost, and thrives on dry, stony ground with little water. Today, it grows wild throughout the Mediterranean region and is cultivated primarily in France, Spain, Italy, and Algeria.

Are capers a vegetable?

Neither, responds La Nicchia on Pantelleria when asked if they are fruit or vegetable, and the plant confirms this. What is called a caper in the kitchen is the bud before it opens. If it remains on the bush, it first turns into a white flower and then into the cucuncio, the fruit: elongated, tapering, one and a half to four centimeters long, significantly larger than the bud and full of seeds. In German, it is called a "caper apple" or "caper berry," and it is also edible. The bud and fruit have a similar aroma, but it is stronger in the caper; however, the cucuncio tastes saltier. The caper is therefore neither a vegetable nor a fruit, but a flower that never became one.

What do capers taste like?

Like mustard oil, and that is initially bound. It exists as mustard oil glucoside in the bud; as soon as an enzyme comes into contact with it, the mustard oil is released, which creates the spicy, pungent taste. Of all mustard oils, it is the most volatile and the most sensitive to water and high temperatures. This leads to the most important tip: Add capers to a dish only at the end of the cooking time and warm them only slightly. Added to this are bitter-tasting flavonoid glycosides, among which rutin dominates. The white spots that sometimes cover the surface of pickled capers are said to be rutin crystals that form during the pickling process. They are part of it.

Capers in salt or capers in brine?

Two paths, and both begin before daybreak. Harvesting takes place immediately before the buds bloom in the early morning hours; on Pantelleria, this continues along with the flowering season from the end of May until September. Because the bush continues to sprout throughout the flowering period, the same plant is harvested again every eight to ten days. Then comes the salt. On Pantelleria, the capers first ripen for ten days in sea salt equal to about 40 percent of their own weight and are stirred regularly; afterward, they are drained and salted again for another ten days with about 20 percent of their weight. Only at the end of this second cycle are they ready to eat. Under salt, the buds lose their vegetation water. In a jar with brine, however, fermentation is at work: According to the Spanish quality standard, alcaparras and alcaparrones were fermented buds and fruits, and the brine gives the smell an acidic note, while the taste remains slightly tart and sharp.

For salt-cured capers, there is only one rule. Take the amount you need, rinse the salt off under running water, and add it to the dish, whether it is sauce, meat, or fish. They should be stored in a well-sealed jar in a cool, dry place; the tight lid keeps the moisture in the jar, allowing them to last for several years. Those who want to place them in oil should rinse off the salt, acidify them with vinegar, and cover them loosely with extra virgin olive oil. Check the oil level every one to two days and top it up.

Nonpareilles, Capucines, Gruesas: what the sizes mean

Size is the benchmark, and it has names. The Spanish quality standard for international trade prescribed sorting with round-hole sieves and named the grades according to diameter: Nonpareilles up to 7 millimeters, Surfines 7 to 8, Capucines 8 to 9, Capotes 9 to 11, Finas 11 to 13, and Gruesas over 13 millimeters. The regulation of April 12, 1984, has since been repealed, but the names have remained. Only Nonpareilles, Surfines, and Capucines were placed in the highest commercial class, Extra, and of those, only completely closed buds of a characteristic green color whose stem was no more than half as long as their diameter. You still follow this rule today: closed, green, short-stemmed. Small capers are firmer, more compact, and rounder than medium and large ones and are therefore more sought-after; on Pantelleria, the smaller-caliber buds produce the better product after ripening. Medium and large ones do not have this firmness but provide just as intense a flavor and work well as a garnish for antipasti.

What food do capers go in?

Everything that needs a punch. On Pantelleria, they go into pestos, fish sauces, pâtés, and antipasti; chopped, they season fish or meat tartare and tomato sauce. German cuisine knows them from remoulade: according to the guidelines of the delicatessen industry, it differs from salad mayonnaise through the addition of chopped pickles, capers, or green herbs like dill tips. The guidelines for vegetable products also list capers as one of the usual fillings for olive products. And then there is the evening when no one wants to cook: a tin of sardines or anchovies, a few rinsed capers on top, bread on the side.

Capers and caper berries from Pantelleria and Spain

Everything together is under Capers & Caper Berries. From La Nicchia on Pantelleria come the Capperi Pantelleria IGP with the Protected Geographical Indication "Cappero di Pantelleria." It has been registered since June 1996 and is reserved for the Nocellara cultivar of Capparis spinosa L., variety inermis. It is monitored by the Trapani Chamber of Commerce, whose certificate of conformity specifies the caliber, sea salt content, and harvest year. From the same producer come the Small Capers in Sea Salt; in both jars, there is nothing but capers and sea salt. From Antonio Viani Importe come the Capperi – Small Capers in Salt and, as fruit instead of bud, the Cucunci – Caper Berries in White Wine. Spanish and in vinegar are the Caper Berries Alcaparras from Alcaparras Asensio Sanchez. Salt or brine: start with the smallest caliber you can get.

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