Plant Profile: How to grow, pick and preserve capers

Tiny, tasty, salty and delicious, capers are a real feature of a number of Mediterranean dishes and platters, and have a big story to tell. Sophie meets Brian Noone - Mr Capers, a man on a mission to understand an amazing food plant with a long culinary history, the caper.

“When I started growing Mediterranean capers in Australia many years ago, there was very little experience and information here about how to grow them” explains Brian.

The caper plant (Capparis spinosa) is a deciduous perennial low shrub, utilised for their edible buds and berries, a delicious addition to salads, pizza and fish dishes. The caper that most people know and eat is native to the Mediterranean region with its hot dry summers, but they can be grown in Australia too.

“The caper has both edible pods (capers) and edible berries (caperberries). People sometimes think that capers and caperberries are from two different plants. But it’s the same plant. The caper is the bud before it flowers. The caperberry is the fruit after it flowers. If you see a plant full of flowers, then you know that the buds/capers weren’t harvested!” explains Brian.



How to grow a caper bush?
Capers can be grown in most states, but not Tasmania as it is too cold, and they can be grown in Queensland but only inland as the wet humid climate on the QLD coast will kill them.

The ideal site is full sun in a hot dry climate. They don’t like humidity.

Capers cope with poor soil, but prefer nutrient rich well drained, alkaline soil.

After planting, water regularly through the first two summers. The plants seem to enjoy winter rains. Once established, they are very drought tolerant.

The branches keep growing, so it’s a good idea to prune branches in late autumn or each winter 2 - 6 inches in length. They will grow quickly in Spring and once they reach 30cm, they start to flower again.

Capers mature at around 3-4 years and will live for 30 to 50 years.

Brian says that you can grow capers in pots but probably won’t get a good harvest as the plant likes to develop a large root structure.

In Australia, there are five species of butterfly whose caterpillars eat the leaves including the white cabbage butterfly.



How to pick and preserve capers
Brian explains that “Picking the capers/buds encourages more buds and flowers to develop. But you can’t eat them fresh. Like olives they are just too bitter and need to be treated. You can also pickle the young leaves and use them in a salad.”

Pick capers when the bud is still tight. Capers need to be cured to remove bitterness.
Add salt to the capers (40% of the weight of the capers) and stir occasionally for 10-12 days. Drain off the salty liquid that emerges in the bowl.
Then add more salt (20%) and after another 10 days drain again.
Store in a jar with more dry salt to preserve them.
Rinse and soak in fresh water when you wish to use them.
You can also use a salted brine method (same as olives) and this is also suitable for the berries. Caperberries are also bitter when fresh.

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