Title: capers-msg
Subject: The use of capers in period food.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: capers, preserve, flowers, herbs, medieval, cook

capers-msg - 9/8/14

The use of capers in period foods. How they were preserved. What they are.

NOTE: See also the files: cook-flowers-msg, herbs-msg, herbs-cooking-msg, garlic-msg, p-herbals-msg, verjuice-msg.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy  at asan.com>
Date: Wed, 07 May 1997 23:33:00 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - capers

Mark Harris wrote:
> So, are capers period? If so, how were they used? Were they dried or
> pickled or what? I think I've seen them in the store and I know I've
> eaten them once or twice but I really don't know much about them.
> 
>   Stefan li Rous

I believe capers existed in period, but I don't know of any period
recipes calling for them.
Most often in the U.S. you will find them in jars packed in brine.
Generally in Europe they are dry-salted, also sold in jars when they
don't come out of a barrel.

They're another of those not-very-well documented Mediterranean coastal
foods, like olives and anchovies, and frequently  eaten together with
the other two Suspects...

Adamantius

From: Uduido  at aol.com
Date: Thu, 8 May 1997 09:31:13 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - capers

<< Has anyone ever seen or heard of fresh capers?  Do recipes ever call
 for them? >>

In the 9 years that I have been cooking in the SCA I have personally never
seen, read, or came across reference to capers being used in any way, shape,
or form in period recipes, food descriptions or other culinary informatiion
from the period. As to the general question of "fresh" capers, since they are
flower buds, IMO, they would be far too fragile to market in fresh form. The
vendors loss from spoilage would far outweigh any gain.

Lord Ras

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy  at asan.com>
Date: Thu, 08 May 1997 09:38:26 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - capers

Alys of Foxdale wrote:
> Has anyone ever seen or heard of fresh capers?  Do recipes ever call
> for them?
> 
>    Alys of Foxdale          Shire of Stierbach, Kingdom of Atlantia

Up until yesterday, I would have said I couldn't recall any recipes
using capers at all. I now recall at least one late-period English
recipe that calls for them to be used, if I remember correctly, in a
wine/butter sauce for fish (flounder, I think). But these would have
been salted.

Still can't recall any references to fresh capers...

Adamantius

From: Gretchen M Beck <grm+  at andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Thu,  8 May 1997 12:58:20 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - capers

Excerpts from internet.listserv.sca-cooks: 8-May-97 Re: SC - capers by
Philip & Susan Troy  at asan 
> Up until yesterday, I would have said I couldn't recall any recipes
> using capers at all. I now recall at least one late-period English
> recipe that calls for them to be used, if I remember correctly, in a
> wine/butter sauce for fish (flounder, I think).

You see them more often in Southern Italian/Sicilian recipes; I believe
the plant is native to these regions.  Whether they were mentioned in
the period recipe books, I don't know.

toodles, margaret 

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 18:29:35 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy  at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - When life gives you lemons, then what?

Stephanie Rudin wrote:
>      This makes me remember that I've been wondering if capers are period?
>      Does anyone know?

We went through this pretty exhaustively a few months ago here on this
list, and the general consensus was that they don't seem to appear in
the period recipe collections most of us are familiar with. I was able
to find a recipe for flounder which featured them in the sauce, but that
was a 17th century source, with what appear to be no prior references.

This is probably a geo-specific item, though, as the sources most of us
cited were generally English, and capers don't come from England. By
sheer coincidence, it so happens that yesterday I was looking through a
copy of the Tacuinum Sanitatis, the 14th century medical catalogue of
foods and other bodily influences, and found the following reference...

The Casanatense version of T.S., f. XLII, says:

"Nature: Warm in the third degree, dry in the second. Optimum: Those
which are tender and fresh. Usefulness: They reduce the quantity of the
urine. Dangers: They reduce the blood and the sperm. Neutralization of
the Dangers: With vinegar."

Adamantius

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 14:13:00 GMT
From: zarlor  at acm.org (Lenny Zimmermann)
Subject: SC - Re: Capers

Stephanie Rudin wrote:
>      This makes me remember that I've been wondering if capers are period?
>      Does anyone know?

Platina (Venice, 1475), lists "De Conditura Capparis", translated by
Elizabeth Buermann Andrewsin 1967 as reading "On Preparing Capers"
Here is the test:

The caper is sown in dry places, surrounded by cleared, open space and
on all sides by banks, either made by nature or by artificial
stonework, so that the caper cannot run riot. It grows more stoutly
than a fruit tree; From it the stalk, along with the seed, is plucked
in abundance. Some kinds, especially the foreign varieties (as Pliny
says) are to be avoided. For the Arabic is harmful, and that from
Apulia, and make one vomit and violently move the stomach and the
bowels. Indeed now (as it seems to me) their nature is changed. For
the foreign is in demand, and especially that from Egypt, and the
Apulian is not bad. Some call the caper tree Cynosbaton, others
Nosbatum, and yet others Staphylen. Its force is dry and warm. They
say that those who use capers every day will not be in danger from
paralysis, nor pain in the abdomen or liver, because capers open the
passages of the vitals and those near the heart, and expel glutinous
humors and melancholy pressures from the spleen, move the bladder,
kill worms, excite the passions, and have the force of Tyriaca against
poisons. It is prepared in this way: Put it in a pan of water that is
hot but not boiling, and leave it there until it has lost most of its
saltiness. Then transfer it to cool water and leave it until it has
cooled off. Then put the capers into a dish, after wiping them dry and
pour a little oil and vinegar over them. There are those who add mint
to this food, and that is not disagreeable, because it makes for
pleasure and health.

I cannot remember off the top of my head any recipes using capers, but
I've only given this manuscript a complete read through once. So they
were at least known in the Veneto region of Italy in the late 15th
Century. (Any qualifications to the above statements I missed that I
should be pointing out?)

Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor  at acm.org

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 19:23:20 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso (fra niccolo)" <grizly  at mindspring.com>
Subject: SC - capers info and links

Capers are the pickled floral buds of the _Capparis spinosa_  plant, a
low, prickly, flowering bush.  They are found promarily in the
Mediterranean basin coasts, hence their commoness in Southern Italian,
Morrocan and other Regional cuisines.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Crops/Caper
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/CropInfoSources/Magness_Info.html
http://www.cucina.iol.it/erbe/inglese/dati/35.htm
http://www.byerlys.com/bbag/Nov1996/vegetables.html

you can find seeds to grow your own at
http://www.ethnobotany.com/seeds.html#C

an herbal database of plant names to common names
http://balsam.methow.com/~gwooten/chem/hrbndx.htm

fra niccolo difrancesco

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 19:42:14 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy  at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - capers

Marisa Herzog wrote:
> *what* are capers?  seeds? berries? pickled?  I have eaten them, and am not
> partial to them.  I know what they look like.  But what are the little
> critters?

They are the buds of a shrub related to the nasturtium. Sometimes actual
nasturtium buds are used as a substitute. Usually they are available in
jars, pickled in brine and/or vinegar in the U.S.A., and are more often
dry-salted in Europe, where they are usually available loose, by weight.

Adamantius

Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 22:48:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: rousseau  at scn.org (Anne-Marie Rousseau)
Subject: Re: SC - When life gives you lemons, then what?

Stephanie Rudin wrote:
>      This makes me remember that I've been wondering if capers are period?
>      Does anyone know?

Capers are used extensively in late/out of period stuff, mentioned in 
compound salats and in _Aceteria_ (1699, super super out of period, 
according to most).

The earliest reference I know of is in la Varenne (1651, French), who 
uses them to jazz up the common medieval Sauce Robert. Yum! We had it for 
dinner last night. Mustard, vinegar, capers, green onions and butter, 
whisked till smooth. Taillevent and friends use it on fish, la Varenne 
recommends it on boar and other meats.

Hope this helps!
- --Anne-Marie

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 10:04:22 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy  at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Sauce Robert...

You'll find an entry on capers in most versions of the Tacuinum
Sanitatis, a.k.a. The Medieval Health Handbook, a.k.a. The Four Seasons
at the House of Cerruti (these last two are titles for modern reprints
of various manuscript versions of Tacuinum Sanitatis). 

Not to change the subject too much, but there are some excellent
resources for cooks and laborers, and people in general, looking for
garb ideas from the Mediterranean Basin of the fourteenth century, as
Tacuinum Sanitatis is really copiously illustrated. My World-Famous
White Medieval Chef's Cote is derived from one of the illustrations.

Adamantius, who ordinarily wouldn't be caught dead in garb from after
the eighth century or so. 

Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 22:01:07 EDT
From: LrdRas  at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Capers

ca*per [1] (noun)

[back-formation from earlier capers (taken as a plural), from Middle English
caperis, from Latin capparis, from Greek kapparis]

First appeared 14th Century

 1 : any of a genus (Capparis of the family Capparidaceae, the caper family)
of low prickly shrubs of the Mediterranean region; especially : one (C.
spinosa) cultivated for its buds

 2 : one of the greenish flower buds or young berries of the caper pickled
and used as a seasoning or garnish

A srarting point.....:-)

Ras

Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 22:04:41 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD  at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Capers

> Which brings up another question -- were capers used in our period?  I
> haven't seen them mentioned, which doesn't mean they're not...
>
> Renata

Via Root:
Capers are mentioned in the 16th Century in Olivier de Serres' Theatre of
Agriculture and the Family of the Fields.  Root suggests a Saharan origin
and places them as a spice known to the ancient Greeks, but a late arrival.
Introduced by the Greeks to France around 600 BC.  Known to the Romans as
far back as their written records reach.

Bear

Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 15:47:04 +0100
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin  at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Capers

Yep, capers are mentioned in "The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti".
Platina also discusses them. So I'd say you are on fairly safe ground. I
intend to serve them with the first course of a 1530s Venetian feast in
September.

Lucretzia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia   |  mka Tina Nevin
Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 14:27:53 -0400
From: renfrow  at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: SC - vermillion, was Re: SC- capers

Hello!  Re: capers -- I just stumbled across this in "A Bagdad Cookery
Book" p. 22 (hope it's not a repeat):

"Here kamakh is of flowering tarragon,
Here capers grace a sauce vermilion..."

and on p. 23 it says "Eggs vermilioned after boiling"

How was this vermillioning done?  (My copy is very hard to read, & there is
no index.) Did they use kermes?  If so, is there a reference in this book
to kermes & how it is prepared?

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow  at skylands.net

Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 15:03:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav  at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Capers caper
To: sca-cooks  at ansteorra.org

--- Susan Fox-Davis <selene  at earthlink.net> wrote:
> From what plant do the buds which become capers
> grow?  I don't like capers much either, but it may
> be how they are prepared, so I'd like to try my hand
> at pickling them at home and see if that helps.
>
> Selene in Caid

Here's some information for you.

Huette

Common Names

English: caper, caperberry, caperbush
French: c=E2prier, c=E2pres, fabagelle, tapana
German: kapper, Kapernstrauch
Italian: cappero, capperone (fruit)
Spanish: alcaparro,caparra; alcaparr=97n (berries)
Portuguese: alcaparra
Dutch: kappertjes
Russian: kapersy
Hungarian: kapricserje
Swedish: kapris
Finnish: kapris
Estonian: torkav, kappar
Egyptian: lussef
Bengali: kabra
Hindi: kiari, kobra
Punjabi: kabarra

Scientific Names
Species: Capparis spinosa L. (syn. Capparis rupestris)

also Capparis ovata Desf.
Family: Capparidaceae (or Capparaceae)

Culinary Uses

Capers of commerce are immature flower buds which have
been pickled in vinegar or preserved in granular salt.
Semi-mature fruits (caperberries) and young shoots
with small leaves may also be pickled for use as a
condiment.

Capers have a sharp piquant flavor and add pungency, a
peculiar aroma and saltiness to comestibles such as
pasta sauces, pizza, fish, meats and salads. The
flavor of caper may be described as being similar to
that of mustard and black pepper. In fact, the caper
strong flavor comes from mustard oil: methyl
isothiocyanate (released from glucocapparin molecules)
arising from crushed plant tissues.

Capers make an important contribution to the pantheon
of classic Mediterranean flavors that include: olives,
rucola (argula, or garden rocket), anchovies and
artichokes.

Tender young shoots including immature small leaves
may also be eaten as a vegetable, or pickled. More
rarely, mature and semi-mature fruits are eaten as a
cooked vegetable. Additionally, ash from burned caper
roots has been used as a source of salt.

Medicinal Uses

Capers are said to reduce flatulence and to be
anti-rheumatic in effect. In ayurvedeic medicine
capers (Capers==Himsra) are recorded as hepatic
stimulants and protectors, improving liver function.
Capers have reported uses for arteriosclerosis, as diuretics,
kidney disinfectants, vermifuges and tonics. Infusions
and decoctions from caper root bark have been
traditionally used for dropsy, anemia, arthritis and
gout. Capers contain considerable amounts of the
anti-oxidant bioflavinoid rutin.

Caper extracts and pulps have been used in cosmetics,
but there has been reported contact dermatitis and
sensitivity from their use.

Origin

There is a strong association between the caperbush
and oceans and seas. Capparis spinosa is said to be
native to the Mediterranean basin, but its range
stretches from the Atlantic coasts of the Canary
Islands and Morocco to the Black Sea to the Crimea and
Armenia, and eastward to the Caspian Sea and into
Iran. Capers probably originated from dry regions in west or
central Asia. Known and used for millennia, capers
were mentioned by Dioscorides as being a marketable
product of the ancient Greeks. Capers are also
mentioned by the Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder.

Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 22:11:51 -0400
From: "Philip W. Troy & Susan Troy" <troy  at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks  at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Capers caper

Nicolas Steenhout wrote:
>> How would you describe the taste of capers since I haven't had a caper
>> before
>
> They are somewhat salty and vinegary.  Capers in and off themselves tend to
> take in the taste of the "juice" they've been put in to marinade

Some capers are dry-cured, basically packed in salt, and they usually need to be rinsed and/or soaked before use, unless you like them really salty. Some are pickled in brine, which develops a slight lactic fermentation, and an accompanying slight sourness as with half-sour pickles. Regardless, all the capers I've ever encountered have a slight mustardy flavor in addition to the herbal perfume and the salt.

Adamantius

Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 11:40:50 -0500
To: sca-cooks  at ansteorra.org
From: Nicolas Steenhout <vavroom  at bmee.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Capers caper

>How would you describe the taste of capers since I haven't had a caper
>before

They are somewhat salty and vinegary.  Capers in and off themselves tend to
take in the taste of the "juice" they've been put in to marinade

Muiredach mac Loloig
Rokkehealden Shire

Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 11:49:08 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Queen of Cats" <pixel  at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks  at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Capers caper

Some more info on the caper bush, growing it, pickling the buds:
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/faqs/culi-2-40-capers.html

It's a very pretty bush, although apparently it has vicious thorns, and is
hard to grow (although the author says that some parts of Florida and
California might be the right climate).

Me, I'll buy mine in the little jars.

Margaret FitzWilliam

Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:49:33 -0400
From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Capers
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

This came across a mundane List I'm on, and I thought it might be of
interest to newer cooks.

CAPERS ARE ACTUALLY PICKLED FLOWER BULBS

Capers are the pickled flower buds of a thorny, trailing shrub that
grows like a weed all over the Mediterranean. It's a stubborn, ornery
plant, difficult to cultivate, with a preference for dry, stony
places. You'll find it growing from rocky cracks and crevices and
climbing stone walls.

When raw, capers are insipid things. Fortunately, it was discovered
thousands of years ago that pickling transforms capers, lending them a
salty-sour pungency and unique aroma that have won the caper an
important place at the Mediterranean table.

The quality of capers is inversely related to their size; the smaller,
the better. The best, sold as nonpareilles or surfines, have an extra
intensity and cost to match.

During harvest, special care must be taken to pick the buds early in
the day before they have a chance to bloom. (Blooming gives you a
beautiful white and violet-colored flower but no caper.) If you let
the flower fruit, you end up with a berry the size of a small olive.

These berries, called caperberries, also need to be cured in brine and
are best treated like cornichons or any other pickle. You'll often
find them on antipasti plates.

Bottled capers will keep indefinitely as long as they are submerged in
their own brine. So take care to leave the brine behind when spooning
capers from their jar. If they're not submerged, use them faster, and
don't top off the jar with vinegar - it'll make them spoil faster.

Source: The Food Network
-- 
Saint Phlip

Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:07:40 -0600
From: Georgia Foster <jo_foster81 at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] caper berry bush
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

With the idea that someone may want to plant their own caper plants

here is a seed source.

http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/caper_bush.htmlJo (Georgia L.)  

Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:00:09 -0400
From: devra at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] capers
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

> There's some talk of a caper shortage?  Should we plant caperberry
> bushes and pickle our own?

I read somewhere (no, I don't remember where) that nastursium buds  
can be used in lieu of capers (and I assume pickled the same way.)  
Well, they are pretty peppery on their own...

Devra

Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:38:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] More about capers ...
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Here's a good little article about capers from Best of Sicily  
magazine online:
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art157.htm

Generally, the writers for this are pretty accurate.

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:21:45 -0300
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] extracting capers from the jar

Have you spent all your life trying to get capers out of that skinny jar 
without loosing all the liquid?
I have.
I just came across Chef Remy Morales on internet who speaks Spanish with 
a thick gringo accent. He says to use a vegetable peeler, the elongated 
one - about 2"!

Suey

From: Shannon Wanty <dragonfish.dance at gmail.com>
Subject: Capers
Date: November 12, 2012 3:22:16 AM CST
To: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>

Hey Stefan

I was just browsing through the Florilegium and came across the article on Capers. General consensus from the late 1990s through to about 2001 appears to have been that they don't show up in period cookbooks. I'd just like to rectify that - they do actually appear in at least one period Italian cookbook of the 16th century.

Off the top of my head, Scappi's extant menus commonly refer to a salad made of capers being served as part of the first credenza course; sometimes they are served with borage flowers, more commonly with raisins, sugar, and rose vinegar. The salad is measured by volume, with approximately one of Scappi's pounds being allowed per five-six diners.

They also show up scattered over meat dishes - veal, prosciutto, and capons - and sometimes over fish. As a dressing, they often show up in accompaniment with either rose vinegar or lemon juice, sometimes with raisins and/or slices of lemon or citron (but you never find lemon juice and sliced lemons/citrons dressing a dish together), and nearly always with sugar - after all, these are 16th century Italian dishes we're talking about.

I haven't finished analysing all of the menus, or all of their sections yet, and I can't remember about the other 16th century Italians off the top of my head, but at some point I'll get around to checking Messisbugo and Romoli as well and will update you then. I'll also let you know when I've finished my menu analysis, as I think it's something you may be interested in for your website. :-)

Caterine

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:21:45 -0300
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] extracting capers from the jar

Have you spent all your life trying to get capers out of that skinny jar 
without loosing all the liquid?
I have.
I just came across Chef Remy Morales on internet who speaks Spanish with 
a thick gringo accent. He says to use a vegetable peeler, the elongated 
one - about 2"!

Suey

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harrsi	capers-msg	Page  of