Capparis spinosa, Spiny Caper or Kappar tax-xewk (MT) grows in rocks and mixed soil. It grows abundantly in a Mediterranean climate and even arid deserts. Since it is actually a bush, its roots can sometimes cause damage when it grows on bastion walls and old buildings.

Although the tree keeps growing from year to year, each flower lasts only for one day and one night. Flowers bloom between April and September, displaying a delicate form in a white and violet colour, and they emanate a delicious perfume.

The plant uses insects to pollinate it and birds to help spread its seeds. Flowers release most of their perfume in the evening to attract the moths that pollinate them. The seeds of the caper plant can only germinate once they have passed through the intestines of a bird. This is to ensure that seeds don’t germinate next to a parent and they do not choke each other out. We often see capers growing on walls because birds rest there and do their business, which might contain an activated caper seed! The caper also grows by the sea because it is tolerant to salt.

In fact, the flower buds are also prepared in salt for human consumption. Mediterranean people have learned to prepare unopened flower buds in a brine and wine vinegar mixture. 

Did you know that, traditionally, a jar must contain at least one ‘male’ - this is a caper fruit that looks like a long olive - to work its magic on the buds?

The buds are ready to eat when they all sink to the bottom, after two or three months. The salty buds are a great salty and pungent addition to salads or a tomato sauce to accompany fish dishes. The flowers are also edible, so you can use them to decorate an elegant salad.

In the past, it was customary in Malta and Gozo for old women to sell capers from door to door, pushing them in a pram and selling them by measure. Gathering capers and preparing them is a lengthy procedure, so they would tend towards being expensive. Since capers have been overpicked for being much like ‘free money’ in the past, the practice of picking wild caper buds (which can no longer fruit and seed) is no longer encouraged on the Maltese Islands.

Fun fact: Did you know that the caper is also a traditional herbal medicine? It is used as a compress primarily against inflammation, joint pain and gout.