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Capers

Description:

Appearance:

Are the unripe, closed flower buds of the caper bush

Thorny caper bush, approx. 1 m high

 

Bears round, smooth, slightly pointed leaves and white / pink flowers with a tassel, long, purple-colored anthers à small cucumber-like fruits develop from them

Flower bud: olive-blue-green, the size of peppercorn to pea

Wilted in the shade, sorted into qualities using sieves:

Nonpareilles: smallest variety, firm and round, most desirable (4-7 mm)

Surfines: Slightly larger than Nonpareilles (7-8 mm)

Capucines and Capottes: Large to largest varieties, inexpensive, pea-sized, Italy à Capperoni (8-9 mm)

Good goods: tight and closed, without injuries to the bud

Main supplier countries: Spain, France, Morocco, Italy and Algeria

 

Recovered plant part:

The flower buds of the caper bush à are harvested unripe, closed

Raw = inedible, ie they have to be pickled

 

Harvest time:

Late May to early September before sunrise

 

Offer forms:

Flower buds pickled in sea salt, brine, vinegar, vinegar and salt or oil, whole or chopped, in small bottles, glasses or tubes

 

Ingredients:

Glucosinolate: main component glucocapparin

Isothiocyanates

Mustard oil: methyl isocyanate

Volatile oil

Taste and smell:

Spicy, piquant, pleasantly bitter taste

Slightly acidic from vinegar

Sharp, mustard-like aroma (methyl mustard oil)

Sharp, pungent, aromatic smell, slightly spicy

Cooking and kitchen use:

Capers are only added to the dish after the cooking process is complete, as the ingredients evaporate quickly.

Salted capers must be soaked in water before use, other spices only use sparingly.

Capers can be added to the food in whole or in pieces.

Soups: vegetable soups and cold bowls

Sauces: capers, herbs, fish and tartar sauce, salad dressings

Meat dish: Minced meat dish: Königsberger Klopse (caper sauce + boiled potatoes); Veal: Preserved veal, vitello tonnato, fricassee, ragout, tongue; Poultry: chicken fricassee, chicken in light sauce; Beef steak tartare

Fish dishes: steamed and fried fish, fish ragouts

Egg dishes: hard-boiled and filled eggs, egg fricassee, eggs in a glass

Starch side dish: potato salad

Vegetables / salads: tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, tuna, meat, eggs, poultry, rice salad

Other: Savory sandwiches, appetizers, cold platters, herbal quark

Use within dietetics:

Digestive and appetizing due to the pungent taste

Caper apples:

As giant capers, caper fruits or caper apples, the up to 2  cm large fruits of the caper bush. Giant capers belong to the fruit vegetable . In the neighboring countries around the Mediterranean Sea, the giant capers are very much appreciated by gourmets. Mostly the capers come on the market pickled in vinegar or oil.

"Your food should be your remedies , & your remedies should be your food."

Hippocrates (460-370 BC)

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