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.