Our caper guy Gabriele Lasagni just made an appearance on primetime Italian national TV to show the Pantelleria caper harvest in full swing. It turns out Gabriele is a natural in front of cameras!
Among stunning island views and the charm of the Mediterranean sea, Gabriele explained the science behind the world’s best capers. There are 4 exact reasons why Pantelleria capers are unlike any other caper:
TEXTURE: The variety of capers growing on Pantelleria, Capparis Spinosa, has an extra leaf wrapped around the flower, so the capers grow more dense and compact.
FLAVOR: The lush volcanic soil of the island of Pantelleria helps the caper plant develop more sugar in its roots, resulting in the richest and most harmonious sapidity.
AROMA: The climate of this remote island, with big temperature fluctuation between night and day, causes the plant to develop high polyphenols that make the capers uber-aromatic.
INTENSITY: The unique processing with sea salt and no water creates a natural brine, so the capers are cured in their own juice and their flavor is as pure as it gets.
HEROIC AGRICULTURE:
“You have no idea how hard the caper harvest is. Pantelleria people spend the summer kneeling down on the bushes, like a prayer, hand-harvesting one bud at a time. They are our heroes.”
That’s why Gabriele decided to deepen his knowledge of this resilient plant and come up with ways to really honor it. “We’re taking from this land and we want to give back to the land something new: by creating products that go beyond tradition we give value to everything that the caper plant offers us.”
In addition to their salted capers and caperberries, La Nicchia harvests + preserves the caper leaves, a crunchy, briny, capery marvel of nature.