1
00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:10,040
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heart Radio.

2
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,600
Speaker 1: I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And today we're

3
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,080
Speaker 1: talking about capers. Uh huh and shout out to Anthony

4
00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,160
Speaker 1: for the suggestion. He's been on our mind ever since

5
00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:25,000
Speaker 1: we read that listener mail. And Lauren, you have discovered

6
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,760
Speaker 1: that you have two jars of capers. Yes, I yeah,

7
00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,840
Speaker 1: well too, not to like full jars, um, that would

8
00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,839
Speaker 1: be wild, um, But no, No, I've got to like

9
00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:39,040
Speaker 1: half empty jars. Because clearly, I mean, like, capers are delicious.

10
00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,000
Speaker 1: I love a caper, um, but I don't think to

11
00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:47,680
Speaker 1: purchase them unless I'm like making a recipe um calls

12
00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,840
Speaker 1: for them, and then I'm like, oh crap, why would

13
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:51,640
Speaker 1: I have capers? I should go buy some capers. And

14
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:56,480
Speaker 1: apparently I've done that at least twice. So um it

15
00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,920
Speaker 1: happens to the best of us. Yeah. Yeah, but but

16
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,080
Speaker 1: but it meant that I got to do some you know,

17
00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 1: hands on research this morning. Yes. Yes, ever the professional

18
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 1: Lauren vocal bomb. If there's anything in my fridge you

19
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:16,240
Speaker 1: ever need me to eat, I'm on it. Noted noted

20
00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:22,280
Speaker 1: it was like Chinese mustard packs you have or something. Sure, Yeah,

21
00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,200
Speaker 1: now I love a mustard pack. Yeah, why not? There

22
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,399
Speaker 1: you go? All right, all right, I believe it. I

23
00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,560
Speaker 1: was on site stuff. Don't don't thrend me a time,

24
00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,800
Speaker 1: don't test you. I got it, I got it, all right.

25
00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 1: I vowed to you to refer to you in this

26
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:44,560
Speaker 1: matter respect Um, I too love capers. There was a

27
00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 1: pasta dish I loved growing up that had capers, and

28
00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:49,800
Speaker 1: the capers were key. I wish I could remember what

29
00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,920
Speaker 1: else was involved, but the capers were key. And I

30
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:59,600
Speaker 1: went through a very big peccatta phase phase and then

31
00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,280
Speaker 1: once I'm oh, I know I've talked about it before

32
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,720
Speaker 1: on the show, so traumatic for me. My little brother

33
00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,320
Speaker 1: came home on Thanksgiving and told me he was vegetarian.

34
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,400
Speaker 1: News to me, like the day of Thanksgiving, like you've

35
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,560
Speaker 1: already been up since like four am, cooking turkey and stuff,

36
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:21,080
Speaker 1: and yeah, suddenly he's like, hey vegetarian now, Hi. Yeah.

37
00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,960
Speaker 1: I was scrambling to to find things that I could

38
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:25,640
Speaker 1: make for them, and I ended up making this like

39
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,440
Speaker 1: potato roasted potato mushroom and caper dish that was delicious

40
00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,520
Speaker 1: and I make to this day, oh wow, that does

41
00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,640
Speaker 1: sound delicious. I don't think I've ever heard a description

42
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,320
Speaker 1: of what it was that sounds that sounds tasty. I

43
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,240
Speaker 1: would eat that also, yeah, pata i. That is one

44
00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,120
Speaker 1: of the things that I have a hard time not

45
00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,960
Speaker 1: ordering on the menu if I see oh yeah, so good,

46
00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,359
Speaker 1: so good, so simple, so good. But all right, let's

47
00:02:50,360 --> 00:03:00,160
Speaker 1: get to our questions. Capers what are they? Well, capers

48
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:09,040
Speaker 1: are tangy edible flower buds, specifically from the caper bush. One.

49
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,600
Speaker 1: Don't worry. There's a little bit of complication in here somewhere.

50
00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,800
Speaker 1: The botanical name is Caparus spinosa. And this is a

51
00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,720
Speaker 1: this is a scrambly type thorny, spiny, maybe evergreen shrub

52
00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:25,760
Speaker 1: that that only ever grows as much as like three

53
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,880
Speaker 1: ft or in meter tall, but spreads out a lot um.

54
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,000
Speaker 1: It's like a like a rocky cliff crevice sort of shrub,

55
00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,760
Speaker 1: you know. Um, it's a pretty temperate plant of flowers

56
00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,440
Speaker 1: in the summer, and the blooms are beautiful white petals

57
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 1: with these long purple stamens bursting out from the center

58
00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:48,240
Speaker 1: like a like a firework. It's it's gorgeous. Um. I'm

59
00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,320
Speaker 1: mad that I don't have any ornamental capers, and all

60
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,720
Speaker 1: of my rock cliffs that I have around my home,

61
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,520
Speaker 1: I don't have. What if you've got um an ornamental

62
00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:03,160
Speaker 1: caper sold or pepper shaker, I dare not imagine the beauty.

63
00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:09,600
Speaker 1: Does it exist? I know that it does somewhere. If not,

64
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,080
Speaker 1: then we just put it out there and the universe

65
00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:17,680
Speaker 1: is obliged. Yes, it must come into parishion, it must exist.

66
00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:23,800
Speaker 1: Um That this shrub is in the Caparassier family, which

67
00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,640
Speaker 1: means that they are cousins to the Brassicassier plants mustards

68
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,320
Speaker 1: and turnips, broccoli, stuff like that, and they share a

69
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:35,320
Speaker 1: bit of that peppery kick. Yeah. Those flower buds are

70
00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,520
Speaker 1: harvested when they're still immature, like we little green nubs

71
00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,680
Speaker 1: that haven't bloomed yet into that beautiful flower. Um That

72
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,599
Speaker 1: the buds are about the size of a pea, and

73
00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,800
Speaker 1: they range in size from a little smaller to a

74
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,000
Speaker 1: little larger than said p. But um, but the smallest

75
00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,800
Speaker 1: are generally the most expensive. Um and primarily from what

76
00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,599
Speaker 1: I can tell, only because they're more labor intensive to pick.

77
00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 1: No particular quality one way or another. Yeah, I read

78
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,040
Speaker 1: a lot articles about that, about how people are missing

79
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,200
Speaker 1: out on the bigger ones because they just assume more offensive.

80
00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:11,360
Speaker 1: Yeah better, Yeah, yeah, yeah, very your your caper size.

81
00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,560
Speaker 1: The next time you go shopping for some barrier caper size,

82
00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,560
Speaker 1: let us know what you think. It gets some from

83
00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,560
Speaker 1: different regions around the Mediterranean. They largely grow in the

84
00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,479
Speaker 1: Mediterranean anyway. Um uh yeah. They are often pickled um,

85
00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,760
Speaker 1: which adds to their They're already like bitter, peppery, floral, lemony,

86
00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:34,760
Speaker 1: all of the fruitally savory tang thing that they've got

87
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 1: going on. Um. Adding to all of that this like

88
00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,520
Speaker 1: heavy punch of salt and sour from um, whatever combination

89
00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,840
Speaker 1: of brine and wine and or vinegar you use to

90
00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,400
Speaker 1: to do the pickling um. And the result is that

91
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,520
Speaker 1: they are just these little flavor bombs um. And the

92
00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,520
Speaker 1: texture is soft but with like a little bit of

93
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,440
Speaker 1: that vegetible crunch um, like like pickled cucumber or something

94
00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,760
Speaker 1: like that would have. Yeah. Yeah, they are like just

95
00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,240
Speaker 1: one it's powerful, so flavorful. Oh yeah yeah, it's a

96
00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,120
Speaker 1: little bit. A little bit goes a long way. Um.

97
00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:08,960
Speaker 1: You can you can chop them up and spread them

98
00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,960
Speaker 1: out a little bit. But I really like having just

99
00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,559
Speaker 1: that full mouthful of like oh what did I just do? Yeah?

100
00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,560
Speaker 1: And I like tiny crunch. I love that. Huh. Um.

101
00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,719
Speaker 1: If you pickle them by fermenting um, you will indeed

102
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:29,560
Speaker 1: get some additional like tart and smooth flavors um from bacteria. Pooh,

103
00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,520
Speaker 1: it feels like a spent a minute since we've done that.

104
00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,680
Speaker 1: I think it has. We haven't talked about a lot

105
00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,560
Speaker 1: of ferments very lately. Well, I'm glad we got to

106
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,440
Speaker 1: remedy you that today. Me too. Always fill in that

107
00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:50,760
Speaker 1: bingo card kids, um uh. If you um don't pickle them,

108
00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,480
Speaker 1: you can also preserve them um packed dry in salt,

109
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,680
Speaker 1: which creates a final product with them, perhaps obviously less

110
00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,920
Speaker 1: like vinegar tang um. And that will allow some more

111
00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,240
Speaker 1: of those floral notes to come through. And these are

112
00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,120
Speaker 1: a little bit pricier and harder to find out of Europe,

113
00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,960
Speaker 1: and people who have opinions about these kind of things

114
00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,720
Speaker 1: say that say that they are a superior product. H

115
00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:24,360
Speaker 1: So okay, I wouldn't know. I'm not that fancy yet neither. Yes, Um,

116
00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,480
Speaker 1: A lot of recipes do you recommend um soaking either

117
00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,280
Speaker 1: type of caper in water for like twenty minutes half

118
00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:32,440
Speaker 1: an hour before using them in recipes so that you

119
00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,360
Speaker 1: dial down some of that vinegar and or salt content

120
00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,000
Speaker 1: and let the other flavors shine through. I've never done that,

121
00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,720
Speaker 1: but maybe I maybe maybe I'm a weirdo. I don't know,

122
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:48,520
Speaker 1: maybe we're both weirdos. That's I have a suspicion. I yes,

123
00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,760
Speaker 1: perhaps I don't know what you're talking about, Lauren, totally

124
00:07:52,840 --> 00:08:01,120
Speaker 1: normal here twenty thou thank you Annie, this is I'm sure. Yep,

125
00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:06,360
Speaker 1: that's the most confident answer you could expect. Um. And

126
00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,560
Speaker 1: if you've ever seen caper berries, uh, those are the

127
00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,920
Speaker 1: fruits that would develop if you allowed the caper bud

128
00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,560
Speaker 1: to bloom and grow, and you also pick caper berries

129
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,120
Speaker 1: green and unripe. Um. They wind up being larger than

130
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:24,280
Speaker 1: capers perhaps obviously again um about the size of an

131
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,360
Speaker 1: olive or so um, and have a less peppery flavor.

132
00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,240
Speaker 1: They're also often pickled. Yes, and I didn't want to

133
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,240
Speaker 1: put in here. A lot of times the smaller ones

134
00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:39,280
Speaker 1: are called nonperier, which that sounds like the water. It does.

135
00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,199
Speaker 1: So what I'm trying to say, um No, it means

136
00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,360
Speaker 1: in French forget my pronunciation, I butgered it. You know

137
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,560
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. It means unparalleled. Oh, that's what

138
00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,720
Speaker 1: that means I assumed that like that, like etymologically, it

139
00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,959
Speaker 1: was like tiny in some way that I wasn't understanding

140
00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,959
Speaker 1: because French. Um, but yeah, that's yeah, but unparalleled is

141
00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,559
Speaker 1: much sweeter. I like that. Yes, yes, I would love

142
00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,640
Speaker 1: to be a product that was labeled on paralleled. Gosh. Yeah,

143
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,080
Speaker 1: but it could be a back ended compliment, couldn't it.

144
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,240
Speaker 1: That's true, but as you know, those are one of

145
00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:22,160
Speaker 1: my favorite reviews. Um. So either way, yeah, we're not weirdos,

146
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:28,559
Speaker 1: We're just unparalleled, exactly exactly. Um. So, capers are in

147
00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,720
Speaker 1: all kinds of dishes as a condiment or ingredient. Um

148
00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,000
Speaker 1: with smoked salmon on bagels and this swas salad, um,

149
00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,439
Speaker 1: chicken and veal, pocada, as we said, pasta pudanesca, sometimes

150
00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,480
Speaker 1: in a marteti, in tartar sauce, and yes, very popular

151
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,800
Speaker 1: in Mediterranean cuisine. Um. Yeah, you can use them in

152
00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,600
Speaker 1: warm or cold dishes. Um. They're often more of a

153
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,160
Speaker 1: garnish than anything else. So yeah, pasta, salad, soup, sandwiches,

154
00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,480
Speaker 1: anything fish related. Put some capers and some tuna salad.

155
00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,719
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I want to do that literally right now.

156
00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,800
Speaker 1: Um uh yeah, they can be an ingredient in toponnads

157
00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,880
Speaker 1: and remolodes. You usually don't want to cook them too

158
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,720
Speaker 1: hard as the crunch and that aforementioned flavor bomby nous

159
00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:11,440
Speaker 1: is kind of part of the fund, so you usually

160
00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 1: add them in towards the end. Um. That being said, though,

161
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,920
Speaker 1: they are really good if you pan fry them, um,

162
00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,439
Speaker 1: because their petals get all crisp. I've never done that.

163
00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,760
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Yeah, it's so good. Um. Yeah, just

164
00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,240
Speaker 1: just press them dry first so that you don't get

165
00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:32,439
Speaker 1: a pop and spatter as the as the water boils

166
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,440
Speaker 1: off inside them. Sure, sure, for sure. And okay I

167
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:41,120
Speaker 1: have an episode idea tartar sauce. Oh since you mentioned that. Yeah, yes,

168
00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,920
Speaker 1: mostully for SpongeBob jokes. Oh oh I don't get that,

169
00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,760
Speaker 1: but cool. Yes, it's just kind of like a oh

170
00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,040
Speaker 1: tartar sauce. Oh I have seen that. Actually. Okay, there

171
00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:56,800
Speaker 1: you are. I'm back with you. I'm back with you. Perfect. Also,

172
00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,680
Speaker 1: I just want to talk about SpongeBob and I'm looking

173
00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,200
Speaker 1: for any excuse to do SpongeBob Crabby Patty. Okay, all right,

174
00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:08,640
Speaker 1: back to the caper. What about the nutrition? Uh, y'all um,

175
00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,080
Speaker 1: if if you're eating enough capers to have a real

176
00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,560
Speaker 1: nutritive impact. I have questions. I'm not judging you, but

177
00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,160
Speaker 1: I have a number of questions. Um. That that being said,

178
00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,199
Speaker 1: they pack a lot of flavor with very little caloric impact. UM.

179
00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:24,680
Speaker 1: You know, they've got a little bit of fibers and

180
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,840
Speaker 1: vitamins and minerals. The only thing to watch out for

181
00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,599
Speaker 1: is that they can have a lot assault from being preserved. UM.

182
00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:32,679
Speaker 1: So yeah, watch out for that if that is a

183
00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,600
Speaker 1: thing that you watch out for. Um. They have long

184
00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,240
Speaker 1: been used for medicinal purposes in various cultures, for all

185
00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,600
Speaker 1: kinds of things. The two that I saw the most

186
00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:48,439
Speaker 1: often um were to reduce arthritis and rheumatism um and

187
00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:54,960
Speaker 1: to reduce flatulence. So okay, yeah, I can't. I'm we

188
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,560
Speaker 1: are not doctors, and neither are the papers that I

189
00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,760
Speaker 1: gleaned that information from the papers doctors. No, not to

190
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:07,640
Speaker 1: my personal knowledge, all right, And capers um are though

191
00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:12,559
Speaker 1: currently being investigated for for um some possible like heart

192
00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:17,200
Speaker 1: and brain health related effects like positive effects um probably

193
00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:22,320
Speaker 1: among other things. I you know, sure, yeah, yeah, we

194
00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,360
Speaker 1: do have a few numbers for you. I will say

195
00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,200
Speaker 1: that there are dozens of different varieties um uh in

196
00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,200
Speaker 1: basically all of the different little microclimates and places that

197
00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,160
Speaker 1: grow them. Um. And seemingly they've got their their plant

198
00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,160
Speaker 1: with a really good genetic diversity, so that's cool cool um.

199
00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,440
Speaker 1: And the past few decades, caper cultivation has gone up

200
00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,960
Speaker 1: to meat rising demand and the US imports about ten

201
00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,760
Speaker 1: million dollars worth of capers every year. So like capers. Yeah, yeah,

202
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:59,240
Speaker 1: we do, we do have. We liked them throughout history though, Yeah,

203
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:05,040
Speaker 1: pretty much. Way to blow the lead, Laura, Yeah, yeah,

204
00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:07,720
Speaker 1: you can just stow it, stop listening now, that's it.

205
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,640
Speaker 1: Darn it. I was gonna weave a tail of whoa

206
00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:18,360
Speaker 1: and suspense, but you should stick around anyway because it

207
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,560
Speaker 1: is still interesting. It is. Yeah, but yes, we're going

208
00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:24,640
Speaker 1: to get into that history. But first we're going to

209
00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:26,880
Speaker 1: take a quick break for a word from our sponsor,

210
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,080
Speaker 1: and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. So

211
00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,959
Speaker 1: capers are old, old, several millennia old. They most likely

212
00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,360
Speaker 1: originated in the Mediterranean or West and Central Asia, or

213
00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:53,520
Speaker 1: possibly several native species all over Australia to Africa, to Asia,

214
00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:57,360
Speaker 1: to the Middle East to Europe. A lot of theories

215
00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,320
Speaker 1: going on there. Yes, her only uncertain um, and and

216
00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,760
Speaker 1: even exactly how old they are is currently uncertain um.

217
00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,640
Speaker 1: I read that some archaeological evidence um that people were

218
00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,080
Speaker 1: eating capers may go back as far as seventeen thousand

219
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,120
Speaker 1: years ago in what's now Egypt. Um. There's also evidence

220
00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:19,360
Speaker 1: which is a little bit more solid, I think, from

221
00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,520
Speaker 1: from around like fifty eight hundred b C. And what's

222
00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:30,600
Speaker 1: now Iraq and BC in China. So old, yeah. Yes.

223
00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,080
Speaker 1: Perhaps the first recorded use of capers as a food

224
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,280
Speaker 1: comes from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh from two thousand

225
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:43,440
Speaker 1: b C. They were also mentioned in the Bible. Capers

226
00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,840
Speaker 1: were viewed as say it with me now and afro

227
00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,560
Speaker 1: yup during Biblical times, and in the n Jewish Encyclopedia

228
00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,320
Speaker 1: is explained that the Hebrew word for caper berry is

229
00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:02,240
Speaker 1: closely linked to the Hebrew word for desire. Huh. Yeah.

230
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,360
Speaker 1: Ancient Greeks knew about capers and disparieties, and plenty the

231
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,200
Speaker 1: Elder wrote about them, as did several other well known

232
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,480
Speaker 1: ancient Greeks, along with the ancient Romans. The Greeks used

233
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:14,400
Speaker 1: them as a condiment, and they used it in all

234
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,000
Speaker 1: kinds of things, meat, sauces, dressings with cheeses. I know,

235
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,960
Speaker 1: going back to Anthony Listener, Anthony's original question when he

236
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,560
Speaker 1: wrote us about the Keeper about why did people eat

237
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,160
Speaker 1: this thing that was potentially poisonous? Why did they start

238
00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,080
Speaker 1: pickling it brining it? The basic question we all ask

239
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:36,920
Speaker 1: a lot of times is why why when did humans

240
00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,360
Speaker 1: realize they could eat this thing? Yeah. I tried really

241
00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,520
Speaker 1: hard to get the bottom of it of when people

242
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,960
Speaker 1: started pickling brian and capers to eat them, and the

243
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,800
Speaker 1: answer seems to be pretty much as soon as people

244
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,600
Speaker 1: started eating them. Yeah. Yeah, that's just been the way

245
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,200
Speaker 1: that humans have always eaten this thing. Yeah, and they

246
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,720
Speaker 1: were they were very very bitter, so practically inedible otherwise,

247
00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,200
Speaker 1: but again not so much in the way of concrete

248
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,960
Speaker 1: evidence approved for in the historical record, but that seems

249
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,520
Speaker 1: to be the consensus. Yeah. Yeah, I've heard that they're yeah,

250
00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,400
Speaker 1: very bitter and very um stringent, like we'll just suck

251
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,480
Speaker 1: all the moisture right off your tongue, right right. And

252
00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,600
Speaker 1: people love pickling things, brightening things. Yeah, they lasts longer,

253
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:23,520
Speaker 1: it is, huh. The Epicious, widely seen as one of

254
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,560
Speaker 1: the first, if not the first, cookbook, included capers as

255
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,160
Speaker 1: a seasoning and this was compiled in the fourth or

256
00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:34,000
Speaker 1: fifth century ce um. A surgeon during the Renaissance, Ambrose

257
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,200
Speaker 1: Pear wrote of capers, capers are good, and that they

258
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:43,400
Speaker 1: sharpen the appetite and relieve the bile. Okay, okay, indeed,

259
00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:49,080
Speaker 1: um vio pacada. Oh, there's a lot of you. We

260
00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:51,120
Speaker 1: shouldn't be surprised at all. At this point. There's a

261
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,480
Speaker 1: lot of debate about the history of this dish, but

262
00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,480
Speaker 1: it is believed to be the product of Italian American

263
00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,680
Speaker 1: immigrants in the nineteen thirties. Again, a lot of unknowns,

264
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,760
Speaker 1: a lot of like. No, it definitely came from this

265
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,040
Speaker 1: down in Italy in the no, do we need to

266
00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:12,400
Speaker 1: do a Picata episode? Oh? Yes, yes, I would be down.

267
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:18,040
Speaker 1: Oh and speaking of very similarly, today, I learned about

268
00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,920
Speaker 1: the history of pasta putninesca, which I've never heard of.

269
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,600
Speaker 1: Um no, no, So if you don't know, if you're

270
00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,879
Speaker 1: like me, you didn't know. Is a sauce made of

271
00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,040
Speaker 1: a mixture of olives, anchovies, capers, and tomatoes, with other

272
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,480
Speaker 1: optional ingredients like red pepper, flicks and garlic. Kept. Sure,

273
00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:38,560
Speaker 1: it can be customized further, but generally um, okay, So

274
00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,320
Speaker 1: apparently the name it translates to lady of the night,

275
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,960
Speaker 1: and the sauce originated in Italy, probably Naples, much later

276
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,080
Speaker 1: than any other Italian sauces, like during or after World

277
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,560
Speaker 1: War Two. At the time, there weren't many career options

278
00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,439
Speaker 1: for women in Italy, and one of the few of

279
00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,679
Speaker 1: them was sex work, which is fairly common. There are

280
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,919
Speaker 1: a lot, a lot, a lot a lot of conflicting

281
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 1: origin stories about this point also UM, but the popular,

282
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,479
Speaker 1: most likely certainly in my my untrue story, is that

283
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,200
Speaker 1: women cooked up the sauce between clients. But sauce isn't

284
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,960
Speaker 1: exactly like a quick fix, like takes some time. The

285
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,440
Speaker 1: other explanation is that it has to do with aromatics

286
00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:28,200
Speaker 1: make of that, which you will um Yeah, so shrug,

287
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:32,240
Speaker 1: I guess, but yeah, but you should totally try and

288
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:37,080
Speaker 1: putnesca there. It's um. All of those little salty elements

289
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,320
Speaker 1: with um, with the sweetness of the tomatoes is just

290
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,840
Speaker 1: really delightful. Yeah, it sounds delicious to me. It sounds

291
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,160
Speaker 1: really good. Yeah, I'm in it. Uh. And capers are

292
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,840
Speaker 1: currently um. In addition to being an investigation for a

293
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:59,200
Speaker 1: few possible medicinal properties, UM are an investigation for use

294
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,479
Speaker 1: in areas experiencing drought due to climate change as like

295
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,800
Speaker 1: a new added crop because because they're they're hardy and

296
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,359
Speaker 1: they're scrambly, um, so their roots help lock in soil

297
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,280
Speaker 1: to prevent erosion. Um. And they can kind of keep

298
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:18,480
Speaker 1: growing when other plants can't due to loss of water.

299
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:26,439
Speaker 1: So yeah, good for capers. Hmm. I forgot to look up.

300
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,639
Speaker 1: I did look at up, but I can't remember, so

301
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,600
Speaker 1: the answer must not have been that interesting. But I

302
00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:36,199
Speaker 1: I looked into why we call like mysteries capers and

303
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,000
Speaker 1: when we started doing that, But I guess the answer

304
00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:44,560
Speaker 1: wasn't in I'm like, I read that too, and now

305
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:50,240
Speaker 1: it's it's unrelated etymologies. Um. But I don't. I think

306
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,439
Speaker 1: the word caper has just kind of been similar for

307
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,480
Speaker 1: a very very very long time, um, for a number

308
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,200
Speaker 1: of different languages. Um. I think that s accidentally got

309
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,879
Speaker 1: dropped at some point when English speaking people assumed that

310
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:11,800
Speaker 1: it was a plural when it wasn't in prior iterations. Um.

311
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:16,920
Speaker 1: But interesting, but yeah, now I don't I skimmed over

312
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,240
Speaker 1: the other part. Now I'm I'm kicking myself, Like, never

313
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:27,080
Speaker 1: skim vocal bomb, you know better? Skim, never skim. But

314
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 1: you know what, recently a friend, a friend of mine,

315
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,399
Speaker 1: she was kind enough and also I guess a masochist

316
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,159
Speaker 1: to um watch me play the last of us to

317
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,400
Speaker 1: all the way through. Oh my heck, and she has.

318
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,920
Speaker 1: She says. My slogan should be Annie Reese never learns

319
00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:57,760
Speaker 1: her less so never skim, but perhaps never learned the

320
00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:05,880
Speaker 1: list it's not wrong. Well, well there you go, there

321
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,680
Speaker 1: you go. You know, perhaps one of the listeners knows

322
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:14,119
Speaker 1: the answer to this caper. Caper. But speaking up, we

323
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 1: do have some listener mail for you. We do. But

324
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:18,480
Speaker 1: first we've got one more quick break for a word

325
00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 1: from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes,

326
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 1: thank you, and we're back with caper. I was trying

327
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,720
Speaker 1: to do the mission impossible voice. But then I realized,

328
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:46,600
Speaker 1: like I don't know that voice. Never learned my lesson.

329
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,440
Speaker 1: I never I should never go into a listener mail

330
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 1: jingle without a firm vision in mind. Well you know,

331
00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:01,720
Speaker 1: I look forward to you never learning your lesson. Thank you, Lauren,

332
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 1: because you are the one that will suffer have the listeners,

333
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,159
Speaker 1: so thank you, and I apologize. We're all we're all

334
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:15,360
Speaker 1: having a fine time. I hope. So speaking of Emily

335
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,639
Speaker 1: wrote about ten years ago at university, my friends and

336
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 1: I took a slightly different route while expressing our geek

337
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,720
Speaker 1: love via food. This was during the height of Sherlock

338
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,880
Speaker 1: Holmes revival and we held a bakery street a regulars party.

339
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,360
Speaker 1: Instead of cooking Victorian fair we recreated the characters as

340
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 1: punny treats. There was Sherloaf, Holmes and Johnny Cake, Wheatson,

341
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 1: Professor Maury Tarty, Irene pudding lerb Sebastian Merangue, among others.

342
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,119
Speaker 1: We even created a few unfortunate murder victims out of

343
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: the pie dough left over from the Maury Tart. I

344
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,160
Speaker 1: no longer have the digital photo files, but please find

345
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,120
Speaker 1: these four quality iPhone photos of photos. No, they were great,

346
00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Um one to pick Sherloaf and

347
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,919
Speaker 1: my crust Holmes with Johnny Cake in front in the

348
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,160
Speaker 1: second a disembowed pastry person. Many googly eyes were used irresponsibility.

349
00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 1: That is so good and they looked really amazing. Yes,

350
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 1: fantastic work. The pluns top match. I've got to try

351
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: this out, like, oh my gosh, um Sarah wrote, I

352
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,479
Speaker 1: know what you should do with all that vodka. What

353
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,680
Speaker 1: I just listened to your delightful episode on Edna Lewis,

354
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,919
Speaker 1: and after listener mail, when you were talking about all

355
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,440
Speaker 1: your excess vodka and apricots, I knew I had to

356
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,440
Speaker 1: write in. I realized enough time has passed since recording

357
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 1: that the apricots are probably gone. But if you can

358
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: get a hold of more stone fruit, I have just

359
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:52,919
Speaker 1: the thing for you. Last year, my boyfriend and I

360
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 1: picked a bunch of plums from the tree that hung

361
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,239
Speaker 1: over his backyard. Astonishingly, even though he had lived there

362
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,120
Speaker 1: for several years, he had never got around harvesting any plums.

363
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,640
Speaker 1: Turns out they were delicious. They are Italian plums, which

364
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: are a smaller variety with a higher concentration of fermentable sugars.

365
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,159
Speaker 1: They were getting over ripe fast, so I took a

366
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 1: weekend and looked up some things to do with them.

367
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:18,120
Speaker 1: Enter sleeve of beats and gosh, I just look this up.

368
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,639
Speaker 1: I hope that I'm saying it correctly. We've mentioned it

369
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,320
Speaker 1: on the show before, but I don't remember how I

370
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:24,880
Speaker 1: was pronounced. So anyway, I'm gonna go with sleeve beats. Yes,

371
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,240
Speaker 1: oh yeah, you mentioned this drink briefly on your episode

372
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 1: on peram awhile back. At the time of this story,

373
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,359
Speaker 1: I had never heard of it, and I found a

374
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 1: recipe for it which used fresh plums, vodka, sugar, lemon peel,

375
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,560
Speaker 1: and a cinnamon stick. Seeing as I had all the

376
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,399
Speaker 1: ingredients on hand, I gave it a shot. Here's how

377
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,400
Speaker 1: it goes. Wash the plums and score the skins. Put

378
00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,240
Speaker 1: your ingredients in a glass container which can be tightly sealed,

379
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 1: and pour the vodka over it for the next two weeks.

380
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: Turn the bottle or bottles over once daily. Then let's

381
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,200
Speaker 1: sit in a dark, cool place for three months. At

382
00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 1: that point, strain everything out of the alcohol and bottle

383
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 1: it however you like. I used the old vodka bottle.

384
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 1: The sleeve of beats should be ready by the winter holidays,

385
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 1: but the longer you let it sit, the better it tastes.

386
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 1: To date, it was one of my most successful food experiments.

387
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,920
Speaker 1: You may not know it, but that's saying something. It's

388
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,159
Speaker 1: one of the most delicious drinks I've ever had. My

389
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,679
Speaker 1: recipe might be too sweet for Lauren, but part of

390
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,919
Speaker 1: the beauty of making it yourself is customizing it to

391
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,240
Speaker 1: your own tastes. We drank the lust for our batch

392
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 1: in late winter, a week or two before I listen

393
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 1: to your param podcast, and it was even more delicious. Then.

394
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,120
Speaker 1: When I learned the drink's origins, it made so much

395
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,440
Speaker 1: sense that it is a drink mint for that time

396
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: of year. This year, I bought four big handles of

397
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 1: vodka so I can make much more of it and

398
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: also experiment with different fruits and flavors. Currently, I have

399
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 1: a batch of raspberry apricot and a batch of mixed

400
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,199
Speaker 1: berries steeping in my basement, and as soon as I

401
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 1: get my hands on some plums, I'll have a lot

402
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,200
Speaker 1: more sleeve of beats on the way. I may try

403
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 1: and send some out to you ladies in Georgia when

404
00:25:54,600 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: it's ready. Drink responsibly, winky face, right, I would not

405
00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: say no to that. That sounds delicious, Yeah, yeah, I.

406
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,919
Speaker 1: I I encourage everyone to follow local laws about shipping

407
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:15,240
Speaker 1: alcohol across state borders and um. Also, if some happened

408
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 1: to find its way to me, I wouldn't turn it

409
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 1: down at all. Nope, nope, not at all. But also,

410
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,480
Speaker 1: thank you so much for their recipe. I'm loving all

411
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 1: these recipes here a great so great. Um. Well, Thank

412
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,679
Speaker 1: you to both of those listeners for writing in. If

413
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,720
Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can. Our

414
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 1: email is hello at saborpod dot com. We're also on

415
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,880
Speaker 1: social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

416
00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 1: In all three places, our screen name is at savor

417
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 1: pod and we do hope to hear from you. Savor

418
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 1: is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my

419
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 1: heart Radio, you can visit the I Heart Radio app,

420
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,359
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. Thanks as

421
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 1: always to our super producers still in Fagin and Andrew Howard.

422
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 1: Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots

423
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 1: more good things are coming your way. H