Capers are immature flower buds from the Capparis spinosa (aka the “caper bush”), which grow all over the Mediterranean, just like olives do. Then they’re pickled in vinegar or preserved in salt because eaten freshly picked, they’d taste no better than a freshly picked olive, which is to say, not so good.

Can you eat caper flowers?

Capers are the edible flower bud of the many-branched caper bush, which also produces edible berries. Both are pickled before they are eaten, as they are very bitter when raw.

Capers are sometimes confused with the brined and dried fish called anchovies, since both are harvested from the same regions and are processed similarly. They are actually immature buds plucked from a small bush native to the Middle East and Mediterranean regions of the world.

Are capers flower buds?

Capers are the pickled unopened flower buds of the plant Capparis spinosa. Caper plants growing on the walls of Monticchiello, a small medieval village in Tuscany. The scrambling, sprawling, evergreen plant is many-branched, with thick, fleshy and shiny, round to ovate alternate leaves.

Capers contain a variety of antioxidants, which play an important role in limiting oxidative stress and may even help to reduce the risk of some kinds of cancer. Capers are also a source of: Vitamin A. Vitamin E.