Capers
Tiny briny buds that add a salty, tangy pop — the little jar that punches above its weight.
Why I love it
A spoonful brightens fish, chicken, pasta and sauces with a salty, almost floral tang. They make a lemon-caper sauce sing and a plain fillet feel finished.
Buying it
Sold packed in brine or in salt. Salt-packed have the purest flavor (rinse first); brine-packed are convenient and good. Small nonpareil are the most delicate.
Storing it
In the fridge once opened, submerged in their brine, for months.
Using it
Stir into a lemon-caper sauce or a salsa verde, scatter over fish, or fry them briefly until crisp for a garnish.
A little nutrition
Almost no calories — pure seasoning. So salty they often replace some of the salt in a dish.
Rinse salt-packed capers first, and taste as you go — they're salty, so ease up on other salt. Frying them a minute makes them crisp and even more intense.