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Following one of our standard strategies for food questions, we headed to the Epicurious Food Dictionary, a gourmet bible. The entry for caper explains that this curious item is the flower bud of a bush found in the Mediterranean and parts of Asia. Buds are picked, dried, and usually pickled. You can find them in the grocery store sold either in brine-filled jars or salted and sold in bulk. Capers are used to flavor piquant sauces or to garnish meat and vegetable dishes. A search
on "caper bush" turned up scores of pages about the condiment-bearing shrub. We found a picture of the Capparis spinosa in bloom. The plant usually grows to about 2-3 feet and bears buds from May until September. Apparently, the ancient Sumerians, Greeks, and Romans used capers for medicinal as well as culinary purposes. In case you were considering cultivating your own capers, the plants are reportedly very difficult to get started from seed.
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