Caper

Capparis spinosa, thecaper bush, also calledFlinders rose,is aperennialplant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.
The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species within the genusCapparisare highly variable, andinterspecific hybridshave been common throughout the evolutionary history of the genus. As a result, some authors have consideredC. spinosato be composed of multiple distinct species,others that the taxon is a single species with multiple varieties or subspecies,or that the taxonC. spinosais a hybrid betweenC. orientalisandC. sicula.
Capparis spinosais native to almost all thecircum-Mediterranean countries,and is included in the flora of most of them, but whether it isindigenousto this region is uncertain. The familyCapparaceaecould have originated in the tropics and later spread to the Mediterranean basin.
The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning or garnish, and the fruit (caper berries), both of which are usually consumedsaltedorpickled. Other species ofCapparisare also picked along withC. spinosafor their buds or fruits. Other parts ofCapparisplants are used in the manufacture of medicines and cosmetics.
The shrubby plant is many-branched, withalternate leaves, thick and shiny, round toovate. The flowers arecomplete, sweetly fragrant, and showy, with four sepals and four white to pinkish-white petals, many long violet-coloured stamens, and a single stigma usually rising well above the stamens.
Elevensubspeciesand variants are accepted, according toPlants of the World Online:
Capparis nummulariawas formerly considered a subspecies ofCapparis spinosa.
Capparis spinosaranges around theMediterranean Basin,Arabian Peninsula, and portions of Western and Central Asia.
In southern Europe, it is found in southern Portugal, southern and eastern Spain (including the Balearic Islands), Mediterranean France including Corsica, Italy including Sicily and Sardinia, Croatia's Dalmatian islands, Albania, Greece and the Greek Islands, western and southern Turkey, on Cyprus, and on the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. In Spain, it ranges from sea level up to 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) in elevation.
In northern Africa, it is found throughout the north and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it occurs from sea level up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation. It is also found in northern Algeria (Kabylie, coastal Algeria, Bouzaréa, and Oran) and theHoggar Mountainsof the Algerian Sahara, in Tunisia north of the Sahara, andCyrenaicain Libya.
In western Asia, it is found along the eastern Mediterranean in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and western Jordan, and in the southern Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is also found south of the Caucasus in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and northeastern Turkey. On the Arabian Peninsula it occurs in Oman, Yemen includingSocotra, and Asir province of Saudi Arabia. In central Asia, it inhabits the mountains of central Afghanistan, the lower Karakoram range in northern Pakistan and Ladakh, and Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and eastern Uzbekistan.
The caper bush requires a semiarid or arid climate. The caper bush has developed a series of mechanisms that reduce the impact of high radiation levels, high daily temperature, and insufficient soil water during its growing period.
In response to sudden increases in humidity, the bush forms wart-like pockmarks across the leaf surface. It quickly adjusts to the new conditions and produces unaffected leaves.
Capers can be grown easily from fresh seeds gathered from ripe fruit and planted into a well-drained seed-raising mix. Seedlings appear in two to four weeks. Old, stored seeds enter a state ofdormancyand require coldstratificationto germinate. The viable embryos germinate within three to four days after partial removal of thelignifiedseed coats.The seed coats and the mucilage surrounding the seeds may be ecological adaptations to avoid water loss and conserve seed viability during the dry season.
Mean annual temperatures in areas under cultivation are over 14 °C (57 °F). A rainy spring and a hot, dry summer are considered advantageous.This drought-tolerant perennial plant is used for landscaping and reducing erosion along highways, steep rocky slopes, dunes or fragile semiarid ecosystems.
Caper buds are usually picked in the morning.Because the youngest, smallest buds fetch the highest prices, daily picking is typical.
Capers may be harvested from wild plants, in which case it is necessary to know that the plant is not one of the few poisonousCapparisspecies that look similar.The plant normally has curved thorns that may scratch the people who harvest the buds, although a few spineless varieties have been developed.
Canned, pickled capers are 84% water, 5%carbohydrates, 2%protein, and 1%fat. Preserved capers are particularly high insodiumdue to the amount of salt added to thebrine. In a typical serving of 28 grams (oneounce), capers supply 6kcaland 35% of theDaily Value(DV) for sodium, with no othernutrientsin significant content. In a 100-gram amount, the sodium content is 2960 mg or 197% DV, withvitamin K(23% DV),iron(13% DV), andriboflavin(12% DV) also having appreciable levels.
Thesaltedandpickledcaper bud (simply called a "caper") is used as an ingredient,seasoning, orgarnish. Capers are a common ingredient inMediterranean cuisine, especiallyCypriot,Italian,Aeolian Greek, andMaltesefood. The immaturefruitof the capershrubare prepared similarly and marketed as "caper berries". Fully mature fruit are not preferred, as they contain many hard seeds.
The buds, when ready to pick, are a darkolive greenand range in size from under7 mm (1⁄4in) to more than14 mm (1⁄2in). They are picked, then pickled insaltor a salt and vinegar solution, and drained. Intense flavour, sometimes described as being similar to black pepper or mustard, is developed as glucocapparin, aglycosideorganosulfur molecule, is released from each caper bud.Thisenzymatic reactionleads to the formation ofrutin, often seen as crystallized white spots on the surfaces of individual caper buds.
Capers are a distinctive ingredient in Italian cuisine, especially inSicilian,Aeolianand southern Italian cooking. They are commonly used insalads,pasta salads, meat dishes, andpastasauces. Examples of uses in Italian cuisine arepiccatadishes,vitello tonnatoandspaghetti alla puttanesca.
Capers are sometimes an ingredient intartar sauce. They are often served withcold smokedsalmon orcured salmondishes, especiallyloxand cream cheese. Capers and caper berries are sometimes substituted for olives to garnish amartini.
Capers are categorized and sold by their size, defined as follows, with the smallest sizes being the most desirable: non-pareil (up to 7 mm), surfines (7–8 mm), capucines (8–9 mm), capotes (9–11 mm), fines (11–13 mm), and grusas (14+ mm). If the caper bud is not picked, it flowers and produces a caper berry. The fruit can be pickled and then served as a Greekmezze.
Caper leaves, which are hard to find outside ofGreeceorCyprus, are used particularly in salads and fish dishes. They are pickled or boiled and preserved in jars with brine—like caper buds.
Dried caper leaves are also used as a substitute forrennetin manufacturing high-quality cheese.
Canned capers containpolyphenols, including theflavonoidsquercetin(173 mg per 100 g) andkaempferol(131 mg per 100 g),as well asanthocyanins.
Capers are sometimes used in cosmetics.
Archaeobotanicalevidence of capers has been found in theMediterraneanregion andMesopotamiaas early as theupper Paleolithicperiod.
The caper was used inancient Greeceas acarminative. It is represented inarchaeologicallevels in the form ofcarbonisedseedsand rarely as flower buds and fruits fromarchaicandclassical antiquitycontexts.AthenaeusinDeipnosophistaepays a lot of attention to the caper, as doPliny(NHXIX, XLVIII.163) andTheophrastus.
Etymologically, the caper and its relatives in several European languages can be traced back toClassical Latincapparis, "caper", in turn, borrowed from theGreekκάππαρις,kápparis, whose origin (as with that of the plant) is unknown but is probably Asian.Another theory linkskápparisto the name of the island ofCyprus(Κύπρος,Kýpros), where capers grow abundantly.
InBiblical times, the caper berry was supposed to haveaphrodisiacproperties;the Hebrew wordaviyyonah(אֲבִיּוֹנָה) for caperberry is closely linked to the Hebrew root אבה (avah), meaning "desire".
The berries (abiyyonot) were eaten, as appears from their liability to tithes and the restrictions of the'Orlah. They are carefully distinguished in theMishnahand theTalmudfrom the caper leaves,alin, shoots,temarot,and the caper buds,capperisin(note the similarity "caper"isin to "caper");all of which were eaten as seen from the blessing requirement, and declared to be the fruit of theẓelafor caper plant.The "capperisin" mentioned in the Talmud are actually referring to a shell that protected the "abiyyonot" as it grew.
Talmud Bavlidiscusses the eating of caper sepals versus caper berries, both inIsraeland inSyria.
Capers are mentioned as a spice in the Roman cookbookApicius.
In his 14th-century workKaftor va-Ferach (Hebrew: כפתור ופרח),Ishtori Haparchinotes that capers were grown in theJordan Valleyregion.