Poor Man's Capers - Pickled Nasturtium pods
Poor Man's Capers aka Nasturtium pods or seeds. It's the time of year to gather Nasturtium seed pods and make pickle! The brainy looking little green seeds of the Nasturtium plants are not only edible but make great caper substitutes.
Collect the ripe green seed pods off the plant, before they become hard & dry and fall on the ground. Test by tasting, if they are crunchy & juicy they're perfect, if they are dry and hard they are too old. Rinse if needed & pack into sterilised glass jars.
Scroll my other blog posts to read all about Nasturtium, it's nutritional properties, how to prepare, & history.
I usually pickle the capers, which mellows out the intense flavors and preserves them for use later in the year when the nasturtiums die back. I've used many variations of recipes, I'm a freestyle preserver, using whatever I have on hand and adding my own homegrown or foraged flavors.
Here is a simple process & recipe to try at home:
Collect the ripe green seed pods off the plant, before they become hard & dry and fall on the ground. Test by tasting, if they are crunchy & juicy they're perfect, if they are dry and hard they are too old. Rinse if needed & pack into sterilised glass jars.
Make a pickling liquid, to 1 cup of nasturtium seeds use: 1 cup cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 2 sprigs fresh dill or any herbs of choice, I often add bay leaves fennel fronds, grape leaves, mustard seeds, onion weed etc depending what's pumping in the garden, then 1 tsp peppercorns,1 clove smashed garlic.
Bring this mix to the boil in a pot and then leave to cool down. Once cool, cover the capers with the liquid & herbs and put in the fridge. I usually leave a month for flavors to mellow & develop before tasting. Keep in the fridge and use as you would any flavorsome foraged pickle!
Scroll my other blog posts to read all about Nasturtium, it's nutritional properties, how to prepare, & history.