Envoy at 13:46, 4 August 2007

2007-08-04T13:46:58Z

New page

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Caper
| image = Capparis_spinosa.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Brassicales]]
| familia = [[Capparaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Capparis]]''
| species = '''''C. spinosa'''''
| binomial = ''Capparis spinosa''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1753
}}
{{For|Australian native ''Capparis spinosa ssp nummularia''|Caperbush}}{{For|the literary genre|caper story}} {{For|the movie genre|big caper movie}}

The '''caper''' (''Capparis spinosa'' L.) is a [[biennial plant|biennial]] spiny shrub that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and big white to pinkish-white flowers. A ''caper'' is also the pickled bud of this plant. The bush is native to the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean region]], growing wild on walls or in rocky coastal areas throughout. The plant is best known for the edible bud and fruit (''caper berry'') which are usually consumed pickled. Other species of ''Capparis'' are also picked along with ''C''. ''spinosa'' for their buds or fruits.

== The plant ==

''Capparis spinosa'' is highly variable in nature in its native habitats and is found growing near the closely related species ''C''. ''sicula'', ''C''. ''orientalis'', and ''C''. ''aegyptia''. Scientists can use the known distributions of each species to identify the origin of commercially prepared capers.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Fici|first = S|title = Intraspecific variation and evolutionary trends in ''Capparis spinosa'' L. (Capparaceae)|journal = Plant Systematics and Evolution|volume = 228|issue = 3-4|pages = 123-141|publisher = Springer Wien|date = October, 2001|doi = 10.1007/s006060170024|accessdate = 21 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last = Inocencio|first = C|coauthors = F Alcaraz, F Calderón, C Obón, D Rivera|title = The use of floral characters in ''Capparis'' sect. ''Capparis' to determine the botanical and geographical origin of capers|journal = European Food Research and Technology|volume = 214|issue = 4|pages = 335-339|publisher = Springer|date = April, 2002|doi = 10.1007/200217-001-1465-7|accessdate = 21 November 2006}}</ref>

The shrubby plant is many-branched, with alternate leaves, thick and shiny, round to ovate in shape. The flowers are [[Plant sexuality|complete]], showy, with four sepals, and four white to pinkish-white petals, many long violet-colored stamens, and a single stigma usually rising well above the stamens.<ref>{{cite web|last = Watson|first = L.|coauthors = MJ Dallwitz|title = The Families of Flowering Plants|date = 1992 onwards|url = http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/capparid.htm|accessdate = 21 November 2006}}</ref>

== Culinary Uses ==

[[Image:Salted capers.jpg|thumb|left|Salted capers.]]
[[Image:Capers_jar.jpg|thumb|100px|right|Pickled Capers in a jar]]
{{nutritionalvalue | name=Capers, prepared | kJ=96 | protein=2 g | fat=0.9 g | carbs=5 g | sugars=0.4 g | fibre=3 g | iron_mg=1.7 | sodium_mg=2960 | vitC_mg=4 | source_usda=1 | right=1 }}

The [[Salting (food)|salted]] and [[pickling|pickled]] caper bud (also called '''caper''') is often used as a [[seasoning]] or [[Garnish (food)|garnish]]. Capers are a common ingredient in [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] [[cuisine]]. The grown [[fruit]] of the caper [[shrub]] is also used, and prepared similarly to the buds to be used as ''caper berries''.

The buds, when ready to pick, are a dark [[Olive (color)|olive green]] and about the size of a kernel of [[maize]]. They are picked, then [[pickling|pickled]] in [[salt]], or a salt and [[vinegar]] [[solution]].

Capers are a distinctive ingredient in Sicilian and Southern Italian cooking, used in [[salad]]s, [[pizza]]s, meat dishes and [[pasta]] [[sauces]]. They are also often served with [[smoking (food)|cold smoked]] [[salmon]] or [[cured salmon]] dishes (especially [[lox]] and cream cheese). Capers are also sometimes substituted for olives to garnish a [[martini (cocktail)|martini]].

Capers are categorized and sold by their size, defined as follows, with the smallest sizes being the most desirable: Non-pareil (0-7 mm), surfines (7-8 mm), capucines (8-9 mm), capotes (9-11 mm), fines (11-13 mm), and grusas (14+ mm).

Unripe [[nasturtium]] seeds can be substituted for capers; they have a very similar texture and flavour when pickled.

== Medicinal Uses ==

In Greek popular [[medicine]] a herbal tea made of caper root and young shoots is considered to be beneficial against [[rheumatism]]. Dioscoride (''MM'' 2.204t) also provides instructions on the use of sprouts, roots, leaves and seeds in the treatment of [[strangury]] and [[inflammation]].

== History ==

The caper was used in [[ancient Greece]] as a [[carminative]]. It is represented in archaeological levels in the form of [[Carbonization|carbonised]] [[seeds]] and rarely as flowerbuds and fruits from [[archaic]] and [[Classical antiquity]] contexts. [[Athenaeus]] in ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' pays a lot of attention to the caper, as do [[Pliny]] (''NH'' XIX, XLVIII.163) and [[Theophrastus]].<ref>Fragiska, M. (2005). Wild and Cultivated Vegetables, Herbs and Spices in Greek Antiquity. ''Environmental Archaeology'' '''10''' (1): 73-82</ref>

The caper-berry is mentioned in the [[Bible]] in the book of [[Ecclesiastes]] as "avionah" according to modern interpretation of the word.

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==

{{Commons|Capparis spinosa}}
* [http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Capp_spi.html Gernot Katzer's Spice Dictionary — Caper]
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/caper.html Caper factsheet] — NewCROP, Purdue University
*[http://ileseoliennes.blog.lemonde.fr/2007/02/08/the-capers-of-salina/ Article about the capers of Salina Island]
* [http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/C.htm Capparidaceae] (alternative name for Capparaceae) in [http://delta-intkey.com/angio/ L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants.]
* [http://www.epikouria.com/issue3/article3-capers.php Capers, The Flower Inside] About Greek capers

[[Category:Spices]]
[[Category:Pickles]]
[[Category:Brassicales]]

Caper - Revision history

Envoy at 13:46, 4 August 2007