Obviously, they come from a little glass jar full of pickled flower buds, but before that, I mean. Let’s say Isadore the flower bud gets overlooked on the day the caper harvesters come along. If we presume that Isadore is able to deal with the sudden loss of companionship, what kind of flower will Isadore be when it matures into a blossom?
Yeah, I could probably find out by checking Wikipedia, but this way promises more fun.
Not just the buds, but the mature berries of the caper shrub are also pickled.
They come from the caper bush, or Capparis spinosa. The plant is in the same order, Brassicales, as cabbage and mustard. The flowers have white petals and a lot of stamens. The fruit of the caper bush, called caper berries, can be pickled and eaten as hors d’oeuvres. Caper leaves are sometimes used in salads.
In my opinion, salted, unpickled capers are superior to the pickled ones for use in sauces.
The fertile minds of criminal geniuses?
They are, of course, the essential ingredient for tartare sauce.
That’s good. I was going to say screenwriters.
Now, see, THIS is why I don’t just go straight to Wikipedia…
Brian: Of course they’ve brought forth caper berries! They’re caper bushes! What do you expect?!
Not really essential here in the US. Here it basically starts with mayo, relish (finely minced pickled cucumbers – either “sweet” or “dill”), and sometimes minced onions. Oh, and often some lemon. I actually don’t think I discovered capers in tartare sauce until I visited the UK in my early 20s. (And now when I make my own tartare sauce, I include capers, but I may leave them out for guests, as not everyone likes that flavor.) I’m not sure any of the commonly available commercial tartare sauces include capers here. I certainly can’t recall the distinctive caper flavor in any of them, at least (and it took me a few tries to get used to that flavor at first.)
Is there a distinction to be made between tartare sauce and tartar sauce (I’m guessing not, but you never know)? American supermarkets I’ve been in only have tartar sauce, while tartare sauce sounds like a condiment produced by A-1 for raw minced beef.
Also, do either of them have cream of tartar?
My first thought was “Catalina”, but I don’t know how many would get that reference.
I meant to spell it “tartar” above, but following bob++'s cue. It’s just another spelling for the same thing. (Commonwealth countries use “tartare sauce.” US uses “tartar sauce.”)
Neither should include capers, but I’m a barbarian, so what do I know? 
Oh, and no, tartar(e) sauce does not contain cream of tartar/tartaric acid.
Nicely done.
Or kids, in both the human and hircine senses.
Both of which are known to caper wildly at times.
Oh, this is delightful! I hadn’t encountered the word “hircine” before, but my life is enriched now that I have.
What I want to know is when was there someone so hungry that he ended up eating flower buds, and who else came up with the idea of pickling those.
When a shenanigan and a lark love each other very much…