the pickled olive green flower bud of Capparis spinosa, a Mediterranean shrub. This is cultivated for the buds in France, where Roquevaire in Provence is the ‘caper capital’, and also in Spain and Italy. The plant, which is sprawling and has tenacious spines (hence one Turkish vernacular name meaning ‘cat's claw’), bears small fruits which may also be pickled.
Fresh capers are not used. The characteristic and slightly bitter flavour which is the virtue of capers, and which is mainly due to the formation of capric acid, is only developed by pickling.
The buds are picked before they start to open, and pickled in vinegar. The most prized ones are called non pareilles in France, followed in increasing order of size and diminishing value by surfines, capucines, fines, and capotes. Because the buds develop fast, plants have to be picked over more or less daily, a procedure which affects their cost.
Pickled caper fruits are popular in Spain. They are somewhat larger than a grape—in fact, they somewhat resemble a coarse green grape with faint white stripes, or perhaps a lilliputian watermelon—and they have a seedy, slightly starchy texture like okra, but the flavour is that of the caper bud, though less intense. They are eaten like olives.
Capers are used in a number of sauces, for example tartare, rémoulade, and ravigote. They are suited to sea-food. In the Mediterranean region they are particularly used with salt cod, and go well with mutton. Capers are also used to flavour the Austrian cheese Liptauer, and in various Provençal dishes, including tapenado; and, sparingly, to decorate or flavour salad dishes.
C. decidua, which yields pink fruits and flower buds, usually pickled or used as a pot-herb, is the caper of N. India.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
