Capers are versatile and can be used in many dishes, especially in Mediterranean cuisine. They can be fried for extra crunch and come in different types, such as salted and pickled. Capers can be added to salads, sauces, and pasta dishes, and are a good source of the antioxidant rutin.
The small, closed, circular shoots of the caper plant can be used in many different ways in the kitchen. Since the plants grow wild in Mediterranean countries, many dishes from these regions call for capers. The strong-tasting caper can be replaced with any type of olive. The caper can be used in salads, sauces or as a side dish for a smoked fish dish. One of the most popular classic Italian caper dishes is chicken piccata.
To cook chicken piccata, thin boneless pieces of poultry are first coated in flour before being fried in olive oil. The cooked chicken is then removed from the pan and the wine, herbs, garlic and lemon wedges are heated as they are stirred to create a sauce. Capers are added at the end of the cooking time. In any cooked caper dish, the capers should be added towards the end to prevent them from becoming too mushy.
Some cooks like to fry capers to make them extra crunchy before adding them to dishes. There are also different types of caper products available which affect the texture and taste of a dish. There are products with salted and pickled capers. Many cooks prefer to use one type over the other, but both types can be used in all kinds of hot and cold recipes.
The caper can be used to create sophisticated versions of potato, egg or tuna salad. The delicious vegetable sprout can be added to prepared tuna, egg or potato along with mayonnaise, olives, red onions, vinaigrette dressing and freshly ground pepper. In France, the caper is often used in a mayonnaise-based sauce to serve alongside seafood. For a cold summer dinner, capers can be added to a fish and rice salad; this can be served on a bed of greens such as a mixture of lettuce, spinach and finely shredded kale.
White sauces of wine, lemon, herbs and capers can be served hot over cooked seafood such as scallops. Herbs used may include dill or tarragon. Mustard and caper sauce can complement cooked chicken breasts. The flavor of different types of pasta sauces can be enhanced by adding capers. While capers are almost always used whole in cooking due to their small size, slicing them first tends to intensify their flavor.
Because most types of caper products are high in salt, they shouldn’t be used when cooking for those on low-sodium diets. Capers are said to be a good source of the antioxidant rutin. Antioxidants are thought to help relieve the body of stress and free radicals that can cause disease.
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