103Caper salad

Method

Sifnos cooked caper spread. Serve chilled or at room temperature with crusty sourdough bread or split-pea purée (fava).

You will need

• Frying pan with lid
• Food processor or large mortar and pestle

1. Warm 30 ml of the olive oil in a wide frying pan over low heat, add the chopped onions, and cook gently for 12 minutes until soft and translucent without browning. 12 min Ready when: onions are soft, sweet, and golden without scorched edges
2. Add the drained soaked capers and 100 ml of water to the pan, cover, and simmer very gently for 15 minutes until the capers soften completely and the liquid has mostly evaporated. 15 min Ready when: capers are tender and squish easily between fingertips
3. Transfer the hot onion-caper mixture and the warm boiled potato into a food processor or large mortar. 2 min Ready when: ingredients are combined while still warm
4. Pulse or pound roughly while trickling in the red wine vinegar and the remaining 50 ml of olive oil, seasoning with freshly ground black pepper. 3 min Ready when: forms a cohesive, coarse paste that holds its shape on a spoon
5. Taste for balance; capers should provide all necessary saltiness, but add a splash more vinegar if it needs brightness. 1 min Ready when: punchy, savoury, and sharp

Tap a step to tick it off.

Make ahead and storing

Improves substantially after chilling overnight in the refrigerator as the sharp flavours marry.

Keep refrigerated in an airtight jar for up to 10 days.

Substitutions

• crustless stale white bread soaked in water and squeezed dry for Floury potato. The traditional island alternative that yields a lighter, more tarama-like texture.

Common mistakes

• Failing to thoroughly desalt the capers before cooking. Salt-packed island capers are unpalatably harsh if not steeped in fresh water beforehand.
• Pureeing into an ultra-smooth baby food texture. A good kaparosalata relies on rustic texture; over-processing ruins the mouthfeel and makes potatoes gummy.

Regional variants

• Sifnos raw style: capers and raw onions are pounded raw with soaked bread and olive oil without simmering.
• Santorini style: enriched with sweet sundried tomato paste alongside the capers.

About the dish

Caper bushes thrive wild across the rocky, sun-baked drystone walls of the Cycladic islands, particularly Sifnos and Santorini. While in modern English kaparosalata is termed a salad, in the Greek islands it belongs to the family of thick emulsion dips alongside taramosalata and melitzanosalata. Island cooks steep salted capers to temper their briny punch, then pound or cook them with sweet yellow onions, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and boiled potato or stale bread to create an intensely savoury, savoury-sour spread.

Found in Cyclades. Cooked for everyday, summer, lent.

Cousins elsewhere

• Pesto pantesco (Italian). Pantelleria similarly pounds capers into an oily, punchy paste to dress starches or vegetables.
• Moutabal (Levantine). Both are rich emulsion-style dips built on a pounded base loosened with olive oil.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

235 kcal · protein 2.6 g · fat 18.9 g (saturated 2.6 g) · carbohydrate 16.3 g (sugars 3.6 g) · fibre 3.4 g · sodium 1119 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Following the Sifniot home style of gently stewing the capers with sweet onions before mashing with potato..

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