Can I grow capers for cooking?
Angela Parge er, by email
Stefan says: Many gardeners (and cooks) often assume that capers are derived from the caper spurge, Euphorbia lathyris, a common enough garden plant, although one more usually associated with its fanciful use as a mole repellent. Most species of spurge, however, contain toxins and you should not experiment with them for culinary purposes.
The real caper plant is a totally different species – a spiny Mediterranean shrub called Capparis spinosa and it’s primarily the unopened buds that are used pickled as seasoning, although the fruits are used also, but are then called caper fruits, not just capers. The finest are called ‘non pareilles’ (without equal) capers and are picked from wild plants, often in Morocco.
I’ve often seen caper bushes in Southern Europe but confess I’d never before thought of growing them in this country, although some specialist firms do supply the seeds. I saw them offered recently by Chiltern Seeds (www. chilternseeds.co.uk), a supplier that can generally be relied on for things out of the ordinary.
I’d use a fairly gritty compost and plenty of heat to encourage germination. The young plants are certainly not hardy and would need, at a guess, a minimum temperature of about 10C (50F) in winter, an attribute that makes them possible subjects for a fairly warm greenhouse or, better still, for a conservatory, where their rather pretty spidery, white flowers could be seen to good effect.
I’ve seen them described as being as hardy as an olive tree, (which can be grown outdoors
all year round) but that may well refer to a relatively old plant. I’m sure the young seedlings would quickly be laid low by frost.
And finally, although in this country we tend to use capers as an accompaniment to fish dishes, do look up the recipe for ajiaco, a quite splendid brew of chicken, avocado, sweetcorn and capers that was introduced to me many years ago by a South American friend.