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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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How to Make Nasturtium Capers (Lacto-Fermented)

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Homemade nasturtium capers, lacto-fermented

Lots of people know you can eat nasturtium flowers, but nasturtium capers, also called poor mans capers are my favorite part of the plant. I’ve fermented unopened flowers from a lot of plants, and these are the best substitute for capers I know of.

The only tricky thing in making these is that it’s not easy to get a ton of them. Unless you know someone with a really large nasturtium patch, you’re going to have to work for them. Making them is worth the effort though.

Edible nasturtiums

Variegated nasturtiums are some of my favorites, don’t forget you can eat the leaves and flowers too.

You don’t need a bunch of fancy ingredients to make capers

Before you embark on a journey to stuff jars of capers full of herbs and seasonings for a fermented nasturtium capers recipe, think back to the first time you bought capers. Regular capers are just unopened flowers of a Mediterranean vine (Capparis spinosa).

There’s nothing in most capers besides salt brine and the pickled nasturtium seeds. There’s no rosemary, no peels of lemon rind, bay leaf, thyme, chilis, huge cloves of garlic, or peppercorns of any color.

I love seeing pictures of things in cute canning jars with ribbons on them, but you don’t have to add all kinds of stuff to make great tasting capers. All you really need is a little time, salt, water, and nasturtium seed pods. Personally, I like clean tasting pickles more than ones that are muddy with too many flavors.

Lamb Sweetbreads with Lettuce, Brown Butter and Nasturtium Capers

Fermenting the seed pods is the key to flavor 

Most of the recipes out there have vinegar in them. If you look on the side of your jar of capers from the store you’ll probably notice vinegar, but it’s unnecessary, and vinegar also makes somethings too soft. Recipes that call for pouring boiling vinegar over capers and processing in a water bath will make unimpressive, soft capers.

Just a little salt and water in the right proportions, will easily ferment right on your counter top at room temperature. After a few days, and then some time in the fridge, the pH will low enough that it will be shelf stable without any vinegar at all.

I found I like keep them in the fridge, where they will last until the next ice age as long as they’re kept underneath the brine. With enough patience, things kept in brine under refrigeration will ferment just like they would outside of the fridge, just at a slower pace.

Edible nasturtiums

The seed pods are here and there, you’ll have to hunt for them.

The only slightly tricky part with fermenting in brine (lacto-fermentation) is deciding how much salt to put in your brine. I like, and have had good success using 3-5% brine for my casual ferments at home.

If you don’t know, using a scale to measure your salt for fermenting in brine is a great key for success. Scales are cheap now days, so if you don’t have one, go order one, weighing ingredients for baking and fermenting will make you a better cook. Even so, I’m including both volume and weight measurements for simple, small batch brine fermented capers here.

Harvest nasturtium seed pods as you find them and add to the brine

At the end of the day what really matters is the flavor. Nasturtium capers taste the same as store bought capers after fermenting, but with a little more crunch. If you want softer capers, check out my post on milkweed capers. The only real difference you’ll notice is that nasturtium capers have a strong aroma, but it doesn’t affect the flavor.

The only tricky part is that it can be tricky to find lots of seed pods. The good part is you can pick them as they come, and drop them in brine with the rest of the buds as they ferment. Eventually flavors will align and they’ll all taste the same.

Oh, you can use both unopened flower buds and green seed pods, but the seed pods are superior in flavor and texture by far. The flower bud you see below was just an accident.

Homemade nasturtium capers, lacto-fermented

Homemade nasturtium capers, lacto-fermented
Print Recipe
4.67 from 18 votes

Nasturtium Capers (Lacto-Fermented)

Naturally lacto-fermented nasturtium capers taste near identical to store bought, but have a better texture. I like to use the ratios below to fill a quart jar, but you can scale it up or down however you like.
Prep Time5 mins
Fermentation Time14 d
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Capers, Fermentation, Nasturtium

Ingredients

  • 25 grams kosher salt 1.5 tablespoon
  • 500 grams water 2 cups
  • Nasturtium seed pods as needed, rinsed clean

Instructions

  • Combine the water and salt and whisk to dissolve. Pour the salt water in to a pint jar jar or other container and add the nasturtium seed pods, then screw on the lid.
  • Leave the jar on the counter for 3 days to start fermenting, or leave out a bit longer if you want them to sour more quickly, then transfer to the fridge. Open the jar here and there to check on the capers and release carbon dioxide and to make sure water doesn't evacuate. I often put mason jars of ferments in another larger container to catch possible drips.
  • After about 2 weeks the capers should have a nice flavor, but if you leave them in the fridge longer they will continue to age and develop until the pH is as low as it can go. More or less, the longer they sit, the better they will get, and you can let your palette be your guide.

Notes

Salt Ratios 
The proportions listed will give you a 5% brine if you use a either a scale or volume measurements (cups, etc). From there, you just need enough of the brine to cover the amount of nasturtium pods you have.
It's a good idea to make sure the seed pods are covered with more brine than you think you'll need. 2 cups of water will cover 1 cup of nasturtium capers. Make sure not to pack the jars too full, since water can evacuate during the fermentation process. 
Alternate Method: Weighing everything and multiplying by .03 (%)
Another easy way to ferment the capers is to put your jar on a scale, tare it to zero in grams, add the capers and water to cover by a good inch or two, then multiply the total grams of the contents by .03. This will be a similar salt content to what I have listed above. Both ways work fine. 

References 

Jeremy Fox: On Vegetables 

Use in cooking 

Sweetbreads with Nasturtium Capers 

 

Related

Previous Post: « Woodchuck Salad with Hickory Nut Oil and Squash
Next Post: Fresh Spaghetti with Colatura and Waterleaf »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dee

    January 19, 2019 at 11:07 am

    5 stars
    I so enjoy your posts. I think I need you to come to my woods to help me in hunting for mushrooms. I know they are there. Just not sure what to do with them!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      January 20, 2019 at 9:18 am

      Thanks Dee, are you located in the Midwest? I visit locations to assess their wild food potential and walk around with the owners. You never know what you might have right in the back 40.

      Reply
  2. Dwight Zietlow

    January 20, 2019 at 2:35 pm

    5 stars
    Hey Alan are you using the flower buds of the nasturtium or the seed pod?
    You had mentioned both in this article.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      January 20, 2019 at 2:58 pm

      Dwight! Seed pods-it’s listed in the recipe. Also…..SPIDER WORT CORDIAL. 🙂

      Reply
    • Polly

      June 22, 2022 at 1:09 am

      “ Oh, you can use both unopened flower buds and green seed pods, but the seed pods are superior in flavor and texture by far. The flower bud you see below was just an accident.”

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        June 22, 2022 at 6:36 am

        I don’t understand what that means.

        Reply
  3. NWP Sarah

    July 6, 2020 at 2:18 pm

    5 stars
    I love your site and it’s encouraged me to forage a bit more around my area! I tried the fermented nasturtium seeds and weighted out the salt for brine. They have been fermenting for about a week and my question is about the smell. I’ve fermented other items but this is the first time it smells like sulfur, rotten eggs, is this normal? Is that to long, to short, wrong bribe, let it air out? They have gone a bit white since I started and it’s been sealed in airtight container. Did I go wrong or is this how it should be?
    Thanks in advance:)

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      July 6, 2020 at 4:53 pm

      The loss of color is normal. Yes, brassicas can develop some strong aromas, pickled breakfast radishes can be horrific. The flavor of nasturtium capers is one of the best though. Sauerkraut smells foul to people too.

      Reply
  4. Kelley Smith

    July 20, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    5 stars
    Hello. I am going out to pick my nasturtium seed pods NOW! I can’t wait to make these delicious capers. Thank you for sharing such great information and recipe for this.

    Kelley

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      July 21, 2020 at 7:44 pm

      Good deal, also, as one other commentators mentioned the smell is, unique, but the taste is very good. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Marie Murphy

    September 4, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    5 stars
    Fabulous,fantastic and I do not intend to waste a single nasturtium seed thankyou so much!

    Reply
  6. Bonita

    September 16, 2020 at 7:03 am

    5 stars
    Hi there Alan, you mention Kosher salt… can I use pink himalayan salt instead ?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      September 18, 2020 at 7:44 am

      Absolutely.

      Reply
  7. Julie Crossen

    September 19, 2020 at 3:23 pm

    5 stars
    I’m so glad I found this recipe. I was about to use a vinegar brine and I would have wasted a bunch of naturtium pods. Horrors!

    Reply
  8. Zelmaré

    November 11, 2020 at 11:58 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve just ripped out a patch of nasturtiums and found a handful of seed pods – I’m going right out to look for some more to put in brine! Lovely article, thank you so much!

    Reply
  9. Leanne

    November 19, 2021 at 7:03 am

    5 stars
    Hwllo. Just did mine about 2 hours ago. The seedpods are still floating to the top, do I need to add a weight of some sort to enaure the top ones go under the brine?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      November 20, 2021 at 6:12 am

      Patience. Stir it occasionally or shake the jar.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Hot to Make Homemade Fermented Capers says:
    May 9, 2019 at 10:23 am

    […] Nasturtium seed pods […]

    Reply
  2. Rainbow Trout Meuniere With Wild Capers says:
    December 9, 2020 at 8:34 am

    […] of little bud or young growth and making my own. Hands down the best ones are made from fermented, unripe nasturtium seed pods, but I also have another wild caper recipe here. For the trout I used a mix of different pickled […]

    Reply

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Alan Bergo
Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizo Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizomes and blueberries for this weeks shoot with @wildfed 

Been a few years since I worked with these. Thankfully Sam Thayer dropped a couple off for me to work with. They’re tender, crisp and delicious. 

Sam mentioned their mild flavor and texture could be because they don’t have to worry about predators eating them, since they grow in the muck of cattail marshes. 

I think they could use a pet name. Pond tusk? Swamp spears? Help me out here. 😂

Nature makes the coolest things. 

#itcamefromthepond #cattail #rhizomes #foraging
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine caps on hardwood sawdust from my lumberjack buddy.

Next up blewits. Spawn from @northsporemushrooms

#winecaps #strophariaaeruginosa #allthemushroomtags
It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from my favorite spot tomorrow a.m. and have room for a couple helpers. It’s at an event on a farm just south of St. Cloud. 

If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll raffle off the spots. Plenty of cherries to go around. I’ll be leading a short plant walk around the farm too. 

#chokecherries #foraging #prunusvirginiana #summervibes
Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking it up with on-site garnishes. Beach pea flowers taste strong and leguminous, similar to vetch, or like a rich tasting pea shoot. 

#lathyrusjaponicus #beachpeas #peaflower #foraging #northshore #bts
Great, long day of filming in near the south shore Great, long day of filming in near the south shore of Lake Superior yesterday. 

Blueberries were sparse, and some kind of blight seems to be affecting the serviceberries. Chanterelles weren’t as good as 2020, but they were there. 

Quick dip in the Lake Superior after we broke set was a bonus. 

W/ @barebonesliving  @misterberndt @jesseroesler

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