R E C I P E S

Capers in Olive Oil

By Edward Behr

Capers are flower buds, and those preserved in dry salt have the strongest, clearest floral taste; they’re far better than capers in vinegar, which taste mainly of vinegar. (For certain purposes, the vinegar’s piquancy is essential and you can’t substitute the ones in salt.) Some freshness is important, because capers in salt lose their floral flavor gradually during the year before the next harvest. If the salt surrounding them is yellowish, that’s a sign of age. Capers grow wild all around the Mediterranean, but they’re especially appreciated in Sicily, where they have countless uses. Most often, they’re combined with garlic and cured anchovies. They go equally well with tomatoes, green olives, celery, and herbs, as in the sweet-and-sour eggplant dish Caponata. They go into pasta sauces and accompany all kinds of meat and fish (see Pesce Spada alla Stemperata). Some of the best capers come from the growers’ co-operative on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria, between Sicily and Tunisia.

The floral taste of capers is underlined by the very best red-wine vinegar, such as you might make at home from the bottle ends of very good wine; that vinegar is also floral in its own way. And olive oil soothes the salt and acidity of both capers and vinegar. Modern oil, made from olives picked earlier and treated more carefully than in the past, stresses fresh-fruit flavor and can recall cherry or vanilla. It goes very well with the vinegar and capers in salt. This simple recipe was told to me by Ebe Veronesi of the Veronesi family oil mill in Lazise sul Garda in northern Italy. The oil from around Lake Garda, on the cool northern fringe of the olive’s range, is unusually delicate in flavor and texture, but strong olive oil, such as Tuscan, is also good with capers.

 

capers in salt

red-wine vinegar

excellent, fresh-tasting olive oil

 

Rinse the salt thoroughly from the capers and drain them well. Place them in a jar or small bowl, pour vinegar over them to cover, soak for 1 hour, and drain well. Pour olive oil over the capers to cover. To serve, spoon capers onto a piece or slice of bread and fold it around them so they won’t roll off.

From The Art of Eating Cookbook

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