Capers

Capers are the unopened flower buds of a low, scrambling bush that grows wild out of dry stone walls and rock faces across the Cyclades, picked by hand in early summer before the buds can open. They are never used fresh, since the raw bud is bitter and inedible, and curing in dry salt or brine is what turns them into something worth eating.

Greek cooking also eats the plant's leaves and young shoots, which is unusual anywhere outside the Aegean. Salted caper leaves appear on meze plates in Santorini, Tinos and Sifnos, and a scatter of buds finishes fava Santorinis alongside raw onion and olive oil. Capers also go into dakos, into potato salads, and into the rusk salads of the Dodecanese such as mermizeli.

Salt-packed capers keep their texture and flavour better than those sold in vinegar brine, but they need a proper rinse and a short soak before use or they will season the entire dish for you. Their job is a sharp, salty punctuation against something soft and mild, which is why they are almost always scattered on top rather than cooked into anything.