Credits photo: James F. Carter – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 2.5
Capers are the unopened buds of the plant. The collection, in Sicily, begins in May and continues until September. Pantelleria Capers are considered as a PGI product, while Salina’s are protected by Slowfood.
Capers are an ingredient that never fails in Italian kitchens because they are a typical product of the Mediterranean culinary tradition.
These small green buds can be stored and sold in salt, in oil, and in vinegar, and are perfect for enriching many recipes (pasta, pizza) to create sauces with a decided taste or serve as an aperitif.
For Capers under salt, it is important to disalate them before consuming them, because there is a risk that the tastes of the other ingredients can be overshadowed by Capers.
Here are the tricks and tips to disalate the capers:
- According to the best-known method, salt capers must be immersed for at least 1 hour in clean and cold water. Who does not have all this time available, can pass the Capers under the running water and then pour them into a bowl of water and white wine vinegar leaving them for a maximum of 5 minutes.
- Another method is to place them on a sheet of absorbent paper, closed and then quickly agitated: then open the sheet of paper and you will see that the salt has deposited on the sheet, depriving almost the capers of the excess.
- The third option is to dip them in white wine for 5 minutes so they lose salt but do not taste