# Where do capers come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2020, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772 "2020-01-02T07:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/21 "2020-01-03T09:33:22Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FzUpBAuxJGk/hqdefault.jpg "Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978 caper") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzUpBAuxJGk) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/22 "2020-01-03T12:39:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Where do capers come from? From Bangkok or Chiang Mai. This is one of many food items just not available anywhere near Nakhon Nowhere. (My daughter brings a few jars of capers when she comes home on holiday.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/23 "2020-01-03T22:05:39Z")
Caper bushes are a common wild plant in Southern Spain - I documented them in the second half of this video, when I visited a couple of years ago: [Carobs and Capers - Mediterranean Foraging - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7zPVAH59yg) The flowers are quite beautiful and very fragrant in the evening. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/24 "2020-01-03T22:48:35Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 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. It doesn’t seem all that odd to me. People eat all sorts of flowers, and people pickle pretty much everything and anything. (For a pretty direct comparison, see artichokes. Those are also flower buds, and often pickled.) I’m more curious as to how people figured out rotting _cough_ I mean fermented shark (hakarl) and surstromming (rotting, _cough_ I mean preserved herring) were edible as everything about the smell of those (well, okay, I can only speak of surstrumming first-hand) says DO NOT EAT ME! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/25 "2020-01-04T03:31:11Z")
[Ravigote sauce.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauce_ravigote) [Sauce gribiche.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauce_gribiche) Both of which I’m fairly sure have been around way longer than tartar sauce, just FTR. Also, there are some dishes in France which are absolutely identified with these sauces. I mean, what else would you serve with calf’s head? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/26 "2020-01-04T04:39:31Z")
Whoops, forgot [remoulade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remoulade). Does the Cajun version keep the capers? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/27 "2020-01-04T04:51:28Z")
Since this has largely turned to the culinary aspects of capers, let’s move this to Cafe Society, Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/28 "2020-01-04T05:19:08Z")
Don’t ask me. Not only have I never seen them in real life, until only the last few years I thought they were a small fish like a sardine. Apparently _kippers_ are something else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/29 "2020-01-04T06:14:30Z")
Mmmm, kippers! I have some downstairs in the kitchen, and the Cub and Mrs P are both asleep. They can’t abide the smell - now’s my Chance! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/30 "2020-01-04T09:32:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is there a distinction to be made between tartare sauce and tartar sauce (I’m guessing not, but you never know)? Clearly it is what is in it. The difference is pretty subtle, but to be called “tartar sauce”, it must include a specified quantity of scrapings obtained from dental hygienists. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/31 "2020-01-04T15:00:48Z")
> [@EdelweissPirate](#): > > Oh, this is delightful! I hadn’t encountered the word “hircine” before, but my life is enriched now that I have. Very handy for a concealed insult. “Oh, John, you small positively hircine this evening!”😃 ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/32 "2020-01-04T16:59:48Z")
In salads and pasta, capers are heaven. Odd for something that tastes like cigarette butts on their own. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/33 "2020-01-04T17:06:44Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Clearly it is what is in it. The difference is pretty subtle, but to be called “tartar sauce”, it must include a specified quantity of scrapings obtained from dental hygienists. Apropos to this thread, an [SDMB Staff Report](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1593/what-do-steak-tartare-tartar-sauce-and-dental-tartar-have-in-common/) on tartar sauce, steak tartar, and dental tartar. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772/34 "2020-01-04T20:20:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m more curious as to how people figured out rotting _cough_ I mean fermented shark (hakarl) and surstromming (rotting, _cough_ I mean preserved herring) were edible as everything about the smell of those (well, okay, I can only speak of surstrumming first-hand) says DO NOT EAT ME! I’m pretty sure hunger, drunkenness, boredom, and double daring were involved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-capers-come-from/845772.md?page=1)