All About Capers
If you enjoy chicken piccata or a bagel with the works, you already know that bright, briny capers can transform a dish. Other parts of the plant—the berries and the leaves—are equally vibrant.
The caper shrub (Capparis spinosa) thrives in the hot, dry climate of the Mediterranean region. Capers are flower buds that, when left on the shrub, produce white-and-purple flowers. The stigmas of these flowers transform into caper berries, which can vary in size and can be as big as grape tomatoes. Caper leaves are roughly circular but end in a point.
Caper berries, like capers, must be cured in salt before they can be eaten (the curing process rids them of their unpleasantly bitter flavor). Caper leaves can be eaten fresh, but most are preserved in oil or in a brine that contains vinegar and salt. –Kate Shannon
THE CAPER FAMILY
There aren’t many brands of caper berries and caper leaves widely available for purchase in the United States, so we’ve opted to forgo a
