Capers have an unusual taste: sharp, strong, slightly spicy, salty and with a peculiar aroma. Most often we come across capers pickled in vinegar, balsamic vinegar, oil or salt and brine (the same applies to fruits). Despite the fact that they are rarely used at home, they are an indispensable ingredient of the Mediterranean...
Capers have an unusual taste: sharp, strong, slightly spicy, salty and with a peculiar aroma. Most often we come across capers pickled in vinegar, balsamic vinegar, oil or salt and brine (the same applies to fruits). Despite the fact that they are rarely used at home, they are an indispensable ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine.
Imagination on the program
A true Sicilian meal necessarily contains capers. We will find them in pasta, pasta salads, pizzas, meat dishes and various sauces. Capers are indispensable in the company of olives when serving any of the cold fish dishes (spreads, smoked fish slices). As a substitute for olives, capers can also sometimes be found in a martini. While capers are added to cooked dishes, the fruits are used as a snack. In addition to the capers themselves, the Greeks also imaginatively use dill leaves, which are quite difficult to find outside of Greece. The leaves are pickled or boiled and stored in jars and added to salads or fish dishes. Capers pickled in salt or brine are usually too salty for direct use, so it is recommended to rinse them under running water. Because of their strong taste, we usually only use a few of them when preparing a dish. Capers are very often used in dishes where anchovies are used, sometimes they can be used as a substitute for them. Some concrete suggestions on how to use capers in cooking: together with anchovies and spices, they can be mashed into a delicious spread, they can be used to brighten up an asparagus salad and enrich the classic remoulade sauce. Sour cream and caper sauce goes perfectly with roast lamb, otherwise capers enrich the taste of poultry dishes: combine them with rosemary and lemon juice, tomatoes, eggs... Chopped capers can be added to herb butter or sprinkled with chopped tomatoes on baked eggplants. To achieve the best taste, add capers to dishes just before the end of cooking, or you can even fry them and add them to soups instead of boiled pasta. In doing so, make sure that the final dish is not too salty.
The right choice
Capers are categorized and sold by size, with smaller ones being much more prized than larger ones. The most valued and famous are the capers from the Greek island of Santorini; their high quality is said to be influenced by the volcanic soil. The most common way to store capers is in brine, where they can be kept for up to nine months. Capers will last about half a year in coarse salt; these are also the most valued, as they retain their firmness and flavor, which they lose when pickled in vinegar or oil. In addition to capers from Santorini, capers from the small island of Pantelleria in Italy are also extremely well known and appreciated.
