Capers are the unopened flower buds of the caper bush (Capparis spinosa), a hardy plant native to the Mediterranean region. They’re picked by hand before they bloom, then salt-cured or brined to develop the briny, tangy flavor you find in the jar at the grocery store.
The Caper Bush
The caper bush is a low, sprawling plant that thrives in hot, dry, rocky environments. It grows wild across southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of western Asia, often sprouting from stone walls, cliff faces, and gravelly soil where few other plants survive. Major commercial production happens in Italy (particularly the island of Pantelleria), Spain, Morocco, Turkey, and Greece.
The plant produces round, tightly closed buds that are dark olive green and roughly the size of a kernel of corn when ready to harvest. If left on the bush, those buds open into striking white and purple flowers. After the flowers are pollinated, the plant produces an oblong fruit called a caper berry, which is also edible but has a milder flavor and a softer, olive-like texture. Capers and caper berries come from the same plant, just picked at different stages of development.
Why Capers Are Hand-Picked
Every caper you’ve ever eaten was harvested by hand. The buds are small, delicate, and don’t all mature at the same time, so machines can’t do the job. Workers walk the rows each morning, picking only the buds that have reached the right size overnight. This painstaking labor is the main reason capers are expensive relative to their size. A single bush can produce buds over a growing season that spans much of the summer, but the daily hand-harvesting adds up quickly in cost.
How Size Affects Quality and Price
Capers are sorted by size after harvest, and smaller buds are generally considered more desirable. They tend to be firmer, more intensely flavored, and more delicate in texture. In Italian grading, capers are rated on a scale from 7 to 16, representing their diameter in millimeters. French-speaking producers use traditional names: “nonpareilles” and “surfines” for the smallest grades. Capers under a centimeter in diameter command higher prices than the larger varieties (called capucines and communes), which can reach up to 1.5 centimeters across. If you see “nonpareil” on a jar, you’re getting the tiniest, most prized size.
From Bush to Jar: The Curing Process
Raw caper buds straight off the plant are bitter and unpleasant. The flavor you recognize only develops through curing, a fermentation process that typically uses sea salt.
In the traditional dry-salt method, freshly picked buds are mixed with a large amount of coarse marine salt, roughly 30 to 40 percent of the total weight. The buds and salt are turned and shuffled daily for about 8 to 10 days. During this time, the salt draws moisture from the buds, forming a brine, and fermentation begins. After that initial period, the brine is drained off, and the buds are packed with a fresh round of salt (20 to 25 percent by weight) for another 20 to 30 days. The entire process takes roughly a month to six weeks.
This fermentation creates the volatile compounds responsible for the caper’s distinctive peppery, slightly mustard-like tang. Some producers skip the dry-salt method and cure buds directly in a vinegar or salt brine, which is faster and produces a sharper, more acidic flavor. Salt-packed capers tend to taste more complex and less vinegary, but they need a quick rinse before use. Brined capers are more common in supermarkets because they’re ready to use straight from the jar.
Capers vs. Caper Berries
You may have seen both capers and caper berries at a deli counter or olive bar and wondered about the difference. Capers are the tiny, firm, pickled buds. Caper berries are the fruit of the same plant, harvested later in the season after the flower has bloomed and been pollinated. They’re much larger, roughly the size of a small grape, with a visible stem attached. Caper berries have a milder, less concentrated flavor and contain small seeds inside. They’re often served whole as part of antipasto platters or cocktail garnishes, while capers are used as a cooking ingredient, stirred into sauces, scattered over fish, or mixed into salads.
A Long Culinary History
People have been eating capers for thousands of years. Ancient Greek and Roman cooks preserved the buds in brine or vinegar, using them as a salty, tangy condiment to stimulate appetite and brighten dishes. That basic approach hasn’t changed much. Today capers show up in Mediterranean staples like chicken piccata, puttanesca sauce, tapenade, and smoked salmon preparations. Their combination of salt, acid, and a faint floral bitterness makes them one of those ingredients that punches well above its weight in a recipe, adding complexity with just a small spoonful.