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Cycladic Kapari Toursi (Κυκλαδίτικη Κάπαρη Τουρσί)
Created by Chef Dimitra
Cycladic caper buds and tender leaves, soaked until their wild bitterness calms, then packed under vinegar and salt for the sharp little pickle that wakes fava and every ouzo table.
Kapari toursi in the Cyclades is the caper bush put by for the year: tight buds, tender leaves, vinegar, salt. On Santorini, Sifnos, Tinos, and the drier islands, you taste it with fava, with beans, beside fried fish, or alone with ouzo. The region is the dish's surname here, because the leaves matter as much as the buds.
The soaking decides everything. Fresh caper buds are brave little things, but straight from the bush they are harsh and green-bitter; vinegar alone doesn't fix that. Cover them with cold water and change it twice a day until the bite settles into a clean sharpness. Then the brine can do its work.
After that, the recipe is plain. Pack the capers and leaves tight, pour over vinegar brine, and wait at least a week. A Sifnos cook once sent me her margin note: five days for small buds, seven for leaves. I kept the note, because it was right.
Ingredients
fresh caper buds and tender caper leaves (kapari)
Quantity
250g
woody stems removed
cold water
Quantity
2 litres per change
for soaking, changed twice daily
white wine vinegar, 5% acidity
Quantity
300ml
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh caper buds and tender caper leaves (kapari)woody stems removed | 250g |
| cold waterfor soaking, changed twice daily | 2 litres per change |
| white wine vinegar, 5% acidity | 300ml |
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