Capers in Italian Cooking

Capers have a flavour similar to green olives’ lemony tang and brininess, but with a floral tartness all their own. Because capers are brine-packed, they have a strong salty, savoury flavour profile.

Capers are used in seafood dishes such as baked fish and pasta sauces in Mediterranean cuisine. They also impart a savoury and lemony flavour to a wide range of dishes, including classic caper recipes like chicken piccata.

They’re also delicious with hearty stews, lamb, and cheese. When coarsely chopped, capers provide a bright, zesty base for sauces, dressings, tapenades, and compound butters.

Because capers are not consumed in large quantities, they are a low-calorie food with little nutritional value. However, they do contain vitamins A, E, and K, as well as copper, iron, and magnesium. If you’re watching your sodium intake, use capers sparingly because they’re packed in brine, which contains a lot of salt.

Caper flavour is enhanced when mustard oil is released from the buds. This enzyme reaction promotes the formation of rutin, which appears as crystallised white marks on the exterior of caper buds. Capers are versatile and can be used in a variety of pasta dishes, seafood and meat delicacies, pizzas, and other Italian dishes. Tartar sauce, which is sometimes served with cured or cold-smoked salmon, also contains capers.

Instead of brining capers, restaurants and locals in southern Italy preserve them in salt.
Capers are an important ingredient in the Sicilian summer side dish Caponata, which is made with slow-cooked eggplant, capers, and other spices. Capers are a key ingredient in the Naples-style Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca. This dish combines capers, anchovies, olives, and tomatoes.

It develops into a caperberry, if the caper is not harvested as an immature bud. Caperberries have a long stem and are about the size of a small olive. They should not be substituted in recipes that call for capers because they have a softer texture and lack the same depth of flavour.

Capers have a flavour similar to green olives’ lemony tang and brininess, but with a floral tartness all their own. Because capers are brine-packed, they have a strong salty, savoury flavour profile. Capers are used in seafood dishes such as baked fish and pasta sauces in Mediterranean cuisine. They also…

Capers have a flavour similar to green olives’ lemony tang and brininess, but with a floral tartness all their own. Because capers are brine-packed, they have a strong salty, savoury flavour profile. Capers are used in seafood dishes such as baked fish and pasta sauces in Mediterranean cuisine. They also…