What Are Capers & What Do They Taste Like
What are Capers? – that is the question! If you’re scratching your head, wondering what capers are and what they taste like, and or if you even want to use them like that pasta recipe told you to, you’re in the right place! Get ready to dive into the world of capers!
Although capers are quite popular in countries surrounding the mighty Mediterranean Sea, they are often overshadowed by olives and other pickles around the globe. They are a gastronomic delight, but many non-Mediterranean cooks don’t know what capers are, so freight not!
You may have seen them in jars at your local grocery store, just waiting to be used as delicious accents… Completely oblivious to the unique flavor and aroma they can add to a myriad of dishes…
But that changes today!
Get ready and keep scrolling because we’ve put together a deep dive into the tiny flavor bombs known as capers. After reading this, you’ll probably wish you’d paid attention to that jar a lot sooner 😉
What are Capers, and Where Do they Come From?
Green, salty, and tangy, capers are the unopened flower buds of the Capparis spinose bush, a.k.a caper bush. They grow naturally around the Mediterranean basin, but their actual origin is said to come from western and central Asia — long before they conquered Spain, Italy, and even Morocco.
Capers are harvested during late spring and throughout the summer, and the smallest (known as “non-pareil“) are the most prized and valuable. Once harvested individually by hand — due to their small size and delicate surface —, they are sun-dried and then cured to remove their strong bitter taste and preserve them.
They can be pickled in brine or salted, although packing them in salt gives them a more interesting flavor according to experts. Pickling them in a concentrated brine is the most common and cheapest curation method.
After being cured and packed, capers become a precious ingredient used by many cooks, both in sauces and dressings, as well as salads and seafood. Speaking about seafood, it goes without saying that they are an essential ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine!
Are Capers a Type of Olive
Although capers are similar in size, color, and flavor to olives, they are not a type of olive.
Olives are the fruits of small trees of the Oleaceae family, while capers are the flower buds of the caper bush, which comes from the Capparaceae family.
While they are not the same thing, they do share another similarity — both grow mainly around the Mediterranean area. And you can replace one for the other in almost any recipe! But we’ll talk about that in our next post.
Are Capers The Same as Caperberries?
You may think that capers are the same as caperberries since they grow on the same bush, but in reality, they are not the same.
You see, caperberries are fruits, more specifically berries — as their name suggests — that grow after the flower buds of the caper bush bloom. You can tell them apart from capers by their long stem, larger size, and milder flavor.
Caperberries also tend to be pickled, but their texture remains crunchier than that of capers. In a nutshell, they are like sisters — not twins.
How to Use Capers
You can use whole capers and cook them with veggies, or leave them raw, dice them, and use them as condiments or garnishes. They don’t need much prepping other than rinsing them with water (if desired) before adding them to a dish or hot pan.
However, there is one thing you should always keep in mind when cooking with capers: they may be small, but they pack a punch of flavor — so use them with caution. It’s best to stay conservative if you want to incorporate them into your dishes. There’s no need to grab a handful and throw them into whatever you’re cooking. Just sprinkle them in, leaving them as few — but powerful — pockets of flavor.
Pro-Tip: If you want your capers to stay tangy and hold their shape, be sure to add them near the end of the cooking process. Most recipes call for this, but some add them early on so that the dish “gets infused with the flavor layers of the capers” — which couldn’t be less true.
What Do Capers Add to Recipes Flavor-wise
Ok so, we already know what are capers, but what do they add to recipes? Well, a lot!
Their flavor profile is bold, salty, sour, vinegary, and pungent. Their briny tang is usually followed by olive and lemon hints, with floral undertones. But what capers really add to recipes is complexity. That’s their greatest flavor quality.
What Can I Do With Capers?
If you are wondering what you can do with capers, you can’t go wrong with the universal tartar sauce, of which they are a key ingredient. Fish is also one of the ingredients they go best with — they uniquely complement each other.
You can also use them in savory dishes such as the ever-popular chicken piccata, in pasta such as bucatini puttanesca, in salads such as caesar salad, and even in sandwiches or soups. They are ubiquitous in Mediterranean cuisine, so you can add them to almost any recipe.
Last but not least, if you want to try recipes outside the Mediterranean, capers are also used in “hallacas“, a traditional Christmas dish in both Colombia and Venezuela. They are similar to tamales, and get their flavor from a stew made with beef, pork, vegetables and, you guessed it — capers.
In short, there’s nothing like capers to put a zing into many dishes from around the world!
FAQs
Should I Rinse Capers?
To rinse or not to rinse capers? That is the question. You do not need to rinse pickled capers – just drain the liquid and toss them right in. If you bought salt-packed capers, it is best to rinse them before using them in your dishes to remove some of the extra salt. Otherwise, you run the risk of over-seasoning the food and losing all the goodness due to the excess salt.
You can soak them in cold water for 15 minutes, for a couple of hours — if they are too salty for you —, or simply give them a quick rinse under running cold water just before using them. However, some people use the excess salt in capers in their favor by not adding extra salt to their dishes when they use them. To each their own!
Can You Eat Capers Raw?
You can enjoy capers both raw or cooked, but only once they are already pickled in vinegar or packed in salt. Truly raw capers are too bitter to handle.
Pickled capers are usually used more as toppings or incorporated into sauces, however, there is something oddly satisfying about eating them straight out of the jar. It’s just like eating pickles or olives as tangy snacks — and we love it.
Are Capers the Same as Pickles?
To answer this question, we first need to brush up on what pickles are. What we Americans refer to as “pickles” are usually small cucumbers in brine, or rather, pickled. But in reality, other vegetables and ingredients such as carrots, onions, cauliflowers, and even capers can also be pickles.
In fact, the actual definition of “pickles” provided by Merriam-Webster is “an article of food that has been preserved in brine or vinegar,” so that term doesn’t apply only to pickled cucumbers. Capers are unopened flower buds of the caper bush preserved in brine, so long story short, yes — capers are the same as pickles.
Can You Eat Capers Raw?
You can enjoy capers both raw or cooked, but only once they are already pickled in vinegar or packed in salt. Truly raw capers are too bitter to handle.
Pickled capers are usually used more as toppings or incorporated into sauces, however, there is something oddly satisfying about eating them straight out of the jar. It’s just like eating pickles or olives as tangy snacks — and we love it.
Are Capers Salty or Sour?
While capers are not as sour as lemon or as salty as the sea, they are certainly packed with intense flavor. They are quite salty and slightly sour, but if you choose the right ones, both flavors will complement each other beautifully.
Also, remember that those are not the only flavors present in capers. As mentioned above, they have floral and lemony notes, which can add depth and complexity even to the simplest dish.
Are Capers a Herb or Spice?
There has been a lot of debate among cooks about what type of ingredient those little pickles are. Even if they know what are capers, many still don’t know where to classify them. But technically, capers are not an herb, vegetable, or even fruit — they are spices. As a matter of fact, in the oldest western cookbook “Apicius“, capers are mentioned as a spice.
Some people also claim that capers are fruits; however, they do not fall under that category. The ones that are fruits are caperberries, which can be pickled to become spices.
