Kaiserhof, my favorite San Diego restaurant, offered grilled opah (fish) today. I’d never heard of opah before, but it was delicious. It came with tarter sauce and capers. I’ve always liked capers on fish dishes, but it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t know what they were. According to google, they’re a kind of flower bud. I was surprised.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bonap.../what-are-capers/amp

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pipe Smoker,

Lotta canned Anchovies are wrapped around capers.

You can also get the pickled berries from the same plant (usually labeled "caper berries"). They're usually very sour and full of crunchy seeds.

Copper Clapper Capers can be fishy...

“Until someone had the bright idea of pickling them”

I am always fascinated by imagining how we came up with what to eat and how to cook them.

I also think of the many pioneers who died and showed the rest of us what not to eat.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I also think of the many pioneers who died and showed the rest of us what not to eat.

I forget the exact details, but we can thank the Romans for mushrooms as an established modern food source. They identified (IIRC) hundreds of edible species by force-feeding them to slaves and observing and cataloging the effects. Today, we generally see three or four species in the grocery store. White button mushrooms, then brown mushrooms (same species as Portobello, just less mature), shiitake are generally what you find.

Seems like at some point or another, someone, somewhere has probably eaten any example of any living or formerly living thing one can imagine.

I ran into capers a couple decades ago when I first had Veal Piccata.

If you're ever abroad, they grow along the Mediterranean and are are used in a lot of dishes.
All the ones you find in the states are packed in a vinegar brine, in Europe they're fresh, the difference is amazing.

quote:

Originally posted by Neel:
If you're ever abroad..

I've never been a broad, but was asked that question before embarking to Keflavik Iceland in 1970...

I told them, I had always been a guy.

The man asking was not amused.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
I ran into capers a couple decades ago when I first had Veal Piccata.

My wife makes chicken piccata with them when her son is here. I won't touch them. To me, they are just plain nasty.

Capers (just a few) are tasty in a salad.

Wasn't it also the Romans who first ate oysters? Must have been REALLY hungry. Did they have Tabasco sauce back then? I love 'em, though.

A little more about the opah that I mentioned in my OP. I recommended the dish to another Kaiserhof regular. He’s an ocean fisherman, and knew of them. He said that they’ve become abundant in the San Diego waters in recent years. He said that part of the fish is darker, about like corned beef, and even tastes a bit like corned beef. But my serving was lighter colored.

Info about opah:

www.hawaii-seafood.org/wild-ha...-fish/moonfish-opah/