Chef at 14:50, 2 October 2024

2024-10-02T14:50:01Z

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{{#seo:
|title=Capers: Cooking Wiki
|titlemode=replace
|keywords=#capers #salmon #vinegar #salads #pizzas #martini #portionsperpersonlookup #olives #mustardoil #fishdishes #cheese
|hashtagrev=12032020
|description=The salted and pickled caper bud (also called caper) is often used as a seasoning or garnish
}}


[[Image:Capers.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Pickled capers]]
The salted and pickled caper bud (also called caper) is often used as a seasoning or garnish. Capers are a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine. The mature fruit of the caper shrub is also prepared similarly, and marketed as caper berries.

The buds, when ready to pick, are a dark olive green and about the size of a kernel of [[maize]]. They are picked, then pickled in salt, or a [[salt]] and [[vinegar]] solution, or drained. This is how intense flavour develops, as [[mustard oil]] (glucocapparin) is released from each caper bud. This enzymatic reaction also leads to the formation of rutin often seen as those �crystallised� white spots on the surfaces of individual caper buds.

Capers are a distinctive ingredient in Sicilian and southern Italian cooking, used in salads, [[pizzas]], [[:Category:Meat_recipes|meat dishes]] and pasta sauces. Examples of uses in [[Italian cuisine]] are [[chicken piccata]] and [[salsa puttanesca]]. They are also often served with cold [[smoked salmon]] or [[cured]] [[salmon]] dishes (especially [[lox]] and [[cream cheese]]). Capers are also sometimes substituted for [[olives]] to garnish a [[martini]].

Capers are categorized and sold by their size, defined as follows, with the smallest sizes being the most desirable: Non-pareil (0-7 mm), surfines (7-8 mm), capucines (8-9 mm), capotes (9-11 mm), fines (11-13 mm), and grusas (14+ mm).

Unripe [[nasturtium]] seeds can be substituted for capers; they have a very similar texture and flavour when pickled.

Capers are not the only product to come from the caperbush. If the caper bud is not picked, it flowers and produces a sort of fruit called a caperberry. The fruit can is picked and pickled and then served as a [[Greek mezze]].

In addition, the Greeks make good use of the caper’s leaves, which are especially desirable and hard to find outside of Greece. They are [[pickled]] or [[boiled]] and preserved in jars with brine like the caper buds. Caper leaves are excellent in [[salads]] and in [[fish dishes]]. [[Dried]] caper leaves are also used as a substitute for rennet in the manufacturing of high quality [[cheese]].
== How much does one cup of capers weigh? ==
''Estimated [[Generic_conversion_table#Volume|US cup]] to weight equivalents:''
<div class="wikitable-responsive">
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
!style="min-width: 20%;"|'''Ingredient'''
!style="min-width: 40%;"|'''US Cups'''
!style="min-width: 40%;"|'''Grams'''
!style="min-width: 40%;"|'''Ounces'''
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align: center;"
|- style="background: #f8f2d7;"
|Whole Capers (drained)||1 Cup||175 g||6 oz
|}
</div>

'''Conversion notes:'''<br />
Every [[ingredient]] has a cups to ounces or grams conversion table. Search for the ingredient, cup to weight conversions are at the end of each ingredient page.

We also have a [[generic conversion table]] and a [[portions per person lookup]].

{{CategoryLineIngredients}}
[[Category:Ingredients]]
[[Category:Condiments]]
[[Category:Vegetables]]

<code 'hashtagrev:12032020'>[[Special:Search/capers|#capers]] [[Special:Search/salmon|#salmon]] [[Special:Search/vinegar|#vinegar]] [[Special:Search/salads|#salads]] [[Special:Search/pizzas|#pizzas]] [[Special:Search/martini|#martini]] [[Special:Search/portionsperpersonlookup|#portionsperpersonlookup]] [[Special:Search/olives|#olives]] [[Special:Search/mustardoil|#mustardoil]] [[Special:Search/fishdishes|#fishdishes]] [[Special:Search/cheese|#cheese]]
</code>

Capers - Revision history

Chef at 14:50, 2 October 2024