Capers

"In food as in life, it's often not the showy, the splashy, the elaborate that makes the big difference. It's the little things, the extra pinch of salt, another minute on the grill (or a minute less), a squeeze of lemon, a knob of butter, that elevates the good to the delicious. It's with this in mind that today I'm honouring the humble caper. They don't look much – small, wizened, so modest in appearance, in one shade only (cowpat green) – but sprinkle some into a sauce or on a pizza, bash them into a salsa verde, scatter them into brown butter and spoon over a piece of fish and KAPOW! Seasoning by stealth." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

All of which is so true and was brought home to me just the other day. It was my last Italian lesson of the year and we had each taken some tiny nibbles to celebrate. Our hostess had some little pieces of smoked salmon on biscuits (I think) - boring you might think - but on each there was a caper and I cannot tell you what a difference that made. It was such a little flavour burst that lifted a humble thing into something special.

I don't do enough with capers, and yet they are essential to so many classic dishes - sauce tartare, caponata, tapenade, pasta puttanesca, salsa verde, Steak Diane, Vitello Tonnato ... And yes they are fundamentally a Mediterranean thing, although it is thought they originated in Asia. Charmaine Solomon's Asian Encyclopaedia does not have any reference to capers though and I cannot think of a single Asian dish that uses them. Which is interesting because you would think that it would go well with Asian flavours - ditto for Middle Eastern - though I think Yotam Ottolenghi, who is Israeli, is quite partial to them. No mention of them in Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern books though.

They come in two forms - capers and caper berries. Capers, are the flower buds - you have to pick them before the flower forms - i.e. at just the right moment - and I think by hand. Which makes them relatively expensive. The flowers are lovely but apparently do not last long. And the caper berries are what is formed after the flower dies.

Capers can be bought in brine or packed in salt - the latter being the superior kind. The ones I have are imported from Italy and I believe that most of those that we buy here are indeed imported from Europe. According to Maggie Beer who is a champion of Australian produce, we are now beginning to produce our own, but not in very large quantities as yet, and so they are either hugely expensive from gourmet outlets or only available to professionals. You really need to rinse the ones packed in salt. It's up to you whether you rinse those in brine.

Caper berries are a little harder to find, but not much. They have a slightly different taste - the various websites I found said it was an acquired taste, although I personally think it is very similar to that of capers really. Add them to an antipasti platter. People will be intrigued.

And whilst we all think first of fish - and they certainly go well with fish - there are lots of other things you can do with capers too. Here are a few:

From Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Fry in a generous amount of browned butter until crisp and spoon the caper butter over simply cooked fish.

Make a quick piccata-style pan sauce to go with fish, pork or chicken. Fry the fish or meat, remove from the pan, then gently sauté a finely chopped shallot in the pan juices. Deglaze with white wine and stock, then simmer to thicken a bit. Add some capers and knob of butter at the end, heat to melt the butter and then spoon over the fish or meat.

Create a tasty Russian salad: chop cooked carrots and potatoes into small cubes and toss with cooked peas, finely chipped cornichons and capers, in a little good mayonnaise with a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper.

Toss through pasta with raisins, toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley.

Toss with roasted vegetables such as carrots and beetroot.

From Maggie Beer - Boiled vegetables can be taken to another dimension with the addition of some capers, extra virgin olive oil and flat-leaf parsley.

Pasta tossed with capers, flat-leaf parsley roasted garlic cloves, and extra virgin olive oil

Open a can of tuna in olive oil and a bottle of preserved tomatoes or a can of good-quality peeled tomatoes and reduce them to a sauce with some fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil. Toss the sauce through hot pasta with some capers.

From Gay Bilson - Roast and peel red capsicums. Deep fry sliced eggplant. Chop lots of flat-leaf parsley. Lay a large rectangular piece of plastic film on a tea towel. Cover with eggplant slices, so that they overlap. Cover with capsicum, laid flat. Sprinkle over parsley, salt and pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Scatter on capers and a touch of balsamic vinegar. Using the plastic film as a guide, roll up tight like a jelly roll, then chill. Cut into slices. Serve with lots of tiny capers and sea salt.

CHICKEN LEGS WITH CAPERBERRIES, RAISINS, GREEN OLIVES AND ROASTED ALMONDS

Maggie Beer

Also fantastic served cold the next day, when the juices will have become jellied.

1/2 cinnamon stick, 3 lemons, 20 free-range chicken legs (about 2.5kg), 10 fresh bay leaves, 4 sprigs rosemary, extra virgin olive oil for cooking, 80g flaked almonds, sea salt flakes, 80g unsalted butter, 1/2 cup vino cotto or balsamic vinegar, 30 green olives, 1 generous cup raisins, 1/2 cup caper berries or salted capers, rinsed and drained, finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Finely grind the cinnamon stick using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Remove the lemon rind in strips with a vegetable peeler and reserve the lemons for juicing. Marinade the chicken in a bowl with the ground cinnamon, lemon rind, bay leaves, rosemary and enough olive oil to coat the pieces, for at least 1 hour before cooking (overnight is even better).

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200ºC. Place the flaked almonds on a baking tray and roast for 5 minutes or until golden; set aside. Season marinated chicken legs with salt, then heat the butter and a little olive oil in a flameproof roasting pan on the stove over low-medium heat. Add the chicken and gently seal until golden brown. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, then place over high heat on the stove and add a little of the vino cotto at a time to deglaze. Add the olives, raisins and caper berries, then return pan to the oven for another 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of the chook legs), or until the chicken is cooked through.

Toss with the flaked almonds and parsley, then squeeze over at least one of the lemons, adding more lemon juice if needed. Leave for 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to meld.

I think I made this once and it was a very differently tasty dish.

SICILIAN ROASTED BRILL STEAK WITH LEMON, ANCHOVIES, CAPERS AND ROSEMARY

Jamie Oliver

1 handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked, extra virgin olive oil, 4 x 200g white fish steaks, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 large unwaxed lemons, finely sliced, 1 large handful of salted capers, soaked, 8 good anchovy fillets, a splash of white wine or prosecco

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Bruise your rosemary in a pestle and mortar to bring out the flavour. Add 6 tablespoons of extra virgin love oil ad scrunch together. Pat half of this flavoured oil round the fish, season well add put into an earthenware dish or roasting tray. Lay 4 or 5 thin slices of lemon over each steak (I normally slice these on a mandolin or use a very sharp knife). Sprinkle over your capers, and drape over your anchovies. Drizzle with remaining flavoured oil and bake in the preheated oven for around 15 minutes off the bone or 25 minutes on the bone. Now you could splash a little wine in if you like. Remove from the oven and allow to rest, just like a steak, for 5 minutes. Sometimes I like to squeeze a little extra lemon juice over the fish so it can mix with the white creamy cooking juice and olive oil, making an amazing natural sauce. Great served with any steamed greens or a good crispy salad.

So I hope this will give you some ideas - go to it, make your own special caper dish.