Make Your Own Capers

Most people only know capers as the piquant little green orbs that come out of a jar and flavor many mediterranean dishes.

Make your own capers.

But if you live in a relatively mild climate where the caper plant capparis spinosa grows chances are it s a prolific weed in your area and it s super easy to make your own capers if you don t live in a mediterranean climate try homemade capers instead. It s very easy and fun to do as a family. You can easily pickle your own capers at home. How to make gordon ramsay lemon butter caper sauce.

How to grow capers. In the north bring the plants inside during the winter or just grow them in pots in a greenhouse. Of butter in it over medium heat until sizzling. The plant is very drought tolerant so make sure not to over water as it prefers dryness.

They require dry heat and intense sunlight to flourish. While the fish comes out of the oven splash the juice from the recipe back into the frypan to make sauce. Often called the poor man s caper they are easy to make. The capers and will then be ready to eat but also can be left to sit for a longer period.

When you are preparing to make your capers be sure to pick the unopened flower buds and very young green seeds that are still attached to the plant as these will pickle faster and give a sweeter result. The capers that we consume are harvested at the immature stage. Prepare the brine mixture of vinegar water and salt in a jar and add the capers. How to pickle your own capers.

Most store bought capers contain a lot of preservatives and stand on the shelves for a long time. They are devoid of nutrition. Mature caper bushes can grow three feet high and spread four or five feet. Picking capers in jerusalem capers grow.

When you pickle your own capers you can have a fun experience of picking them and putting them in brine. The older seeds are fine to use but can take up to 8 months to soften. Whisk together the garlic capers lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Another easy way to ferment the capers is to simply put your jar on a scale tare it to zero working in grams add the capers and water to cover by a good inch or two then multiply the total grams of the contents by 03 which will be a similar salt content to what i have listed above.

Called french nonpareils they are the most prized and come with an equally notable price tag it s also relatively easy to find surfines capers which are a little bigger 7mm to 8mm capucines 8mm to 9mm capotes 9mm to 11mm fines 11mm to 13mm and grusas over 14mm are less common. You can eat most of this plant and once it starts to die it develops seeds which you can use to make a type of caper. Place your caper bush in full sunlight in a dry arid environment. Let the capers soak in water and rinse and replace the water once a day for three days.

Capers can be harvested at five different stages and size does matter. The smallest variety about 1 4 inch or 7mm in diameter is from the south of france. Make your own capers from nasturtiums. Let sit for another three days.