Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren Vogel Bomb here. They may be small, but
Speaker 1: capers path a big punch when it comes to flavor. Capers,
Speaker 1: which are commonly found in Mediterranean dishes, are actually just
Speaker 1: immature flower buds that are pickled or preserved in salt.
Speaker 1: The buds can add a sharp burst of flavor, a bitter, peppery, floral,
Speaker 1: lemony tang to everything from salads and smoked salmon to
Speaker 1: pasta and chicken pecada. They may be the cherry on
Speaker 1: top of classic Mediterranean dishes, but preserved capers need a
Speaker 1: little care and know how to use well. Today, let's
Speaker 1: talk about how to cook with capers at home, plus
Speaker 1: a little science and history on this tiny flavorful flower bud. Okay.
Speaker 1: Capers are yes immature flower buds of the caper bush
Speaker 1: uncle named Caparus spinosa. This is a scrambly, thorny sort
Speaker 1: of evergreen shrub that only grows about three feet or
Speaker 1: a meter tall, but spreads out a lot. It's a
Speaker 1: rocky cliff crevice sort of shrub and commonly grows along
Speaker 1: the Mediterranean Sea and in other temperate seaside climates. Straight
Speaker 1: through Central Asia. If you let caper buds bloom and
Speaker 1: grow fruit, they'll develop what's called caper berry. These are
Speaker 1: also picked early, when they're green and unripe and about
Speaker 1: the size of an olive. They taste less peppery than
Speaker 1: capers and are also often pickled. The scientists aren't sure
Speaker 1: where capers originated, possibly West Asia, but there's archaeological evidence
Speaker 1: that people might have been eating capers as long as
Speaker 1: seventeen thousand years ago in what's now Egypt. There's also
Speaker 1: evidence from five thousand, eight hundred BCE in Mesopotamia and
Speaker 1: two thousand, eight hundred BCE in ancient China. They're in
Speaker 1: the Caparassier family, which means their cousins to the brassicasier plants.
Speaker 1: You know, mustards, turnips, broccoli, stuff like that. That's why
Speaker 1: these foods all share a bit of a peppery kick.
Speaker 1: Ancient Greek physician and botanist Diascorides and ancient Roman scholar
Speaker 1: Pliny the Elder both made note of caper products in
Speaker 1: their records. Like us, both Greeks and Romans used capers
Speaker 1: as a condiment on all kinds of savory dishes. Caper
Speaker 1: buds are harvested when they're wee green nubs that haven't
Speaker 1: bloomed yet, about the size of a pea fresh off
Speaker 1: the plant. Capers are super bitter and don't last very long,
Speaker 1: so to preserve them and mellow them out a bit,
Speaker 1: they're usually salted, either dry or in a wet brine
Speaker 1: that is pickled. When pickled, that'll add to their flavor
Speaker 1: a heavy punch of saltiness and sourness from whatever combination
Speaker 1: of brine, wine, and or vinegar used. When packed dry
Speaker 1: in salt, you wind up with a less tag product
Speaker 1: that allows more floral notes to come through. For the article,
Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke via
Speaker 1: email with Natalie Dom, a Michigan based chef. She suggests
Speaker 1: a quick and easy protocol for unpacking and preparing capers
Speaker 1: before cooking with them. Quote. If you're using capers from
Speaker 1: a brine, you can just drain them and add them
Speaker 1: to a dish as is. If you're using dry salted capers,
Speaker 1: they need to be soaked and rinsed a couple of times,
Speaker 1: otherwise the salt is overpowering. Dom explained that she uses
Speaker 1: capers most frequently in sauces, dressings, and salads. She said,
Speaker 1: I love the saltiness from their brine and almost a
Speaker 1: little acidity that they bring to dishes. They add a
Speaker 1: sort of brightness to dishes. They compliment lemon and even
Speaker 1: sweeter things like golden raisins and dried apricots. As products
Speaker 1: of the Mediterranean, it makes sense that now classic Italian
Speaker 1: or Italian American dishes like pacata putnesca, scallapina al lamone,
Speaker 1: and caesar salad incorporate capers. But other classic caper inclusive
Speaker 1: dishes like smoked salmon spread and beef tartar are obviously
Speaker 1: hits as well, and you can take inspiration from that spectrum.
Speaker 1: Capers are great for cutting rich, fatty flavors and for
Speaker 1: amping up fresh herbal or citrusy flavors too. And by
Speaker 1: the way, they're really good If you pan fry them,
Speaker 1: their petals get all crisp. Just press them dry first. However,
Speaker 1: you use capers, go easy on them, especially if you're
Speaker 1: cooking with them for the first time. A little goes
Speaker 1: a long way. Capers and their brine can both easily
Speaker 1: overwhelm delicate dishes. Some recipes even call for rinsing brined
Speaker 1: capers to soften that bite. And however you use them,
Speaker 1: you probably want to add them towards the end of
Speaker 1: cooking so that they maintain their texture and don't lose
Speaker 1: too much of their flavor bomb flare to the rest
Speaker 1: of the sauce. Even if you enjoy going overboard on capers,
Speaker 1: you probably aren't eating enough to have a real nutritional impact. However,
Speaker 1: they do pack in a lot of flavor for very
Speaker 1: few calories, and they contain a little fiber and a
Speaker 1: great spread of micronutrients. You know, your vitamins and minerals,
Speaker 1: compounds that can work as antioxidants in your body. Stuff
Speaker 1: like that. Capers and their extracts are currently being investigated
Speaker 1: for potential heart and brain positive effects. Though nutrition is
Speaker 1: really complicated and we don't understand how it works very well,
Speaker 1: so don't start popping them like tic tax for your health. Also,
Speaker 1: they can contain a lot of sodium from being preserved
Speaker 1: in salt, so watch out for that if that's a
Speaker 1: thing that you watch out for. Capers are also currently
Speaker 1: an investigation for another use as an erosion preventor and
Speaker 1: food source in areas experiencing drought due to climate change.
Speaker 1: Because the shrubs are hardy and scrambling. Their roots help
Speaker 1: lock in soil and can keep growing when other plants can't.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article Tiny Capers Paca,
Speaker 1: Big Flavorful Punch on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Stephanie Vermillion.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how
Speaker 1: Stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four
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