What Kind of Capers?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘Capers’ as follows:

1. nv a playful leap or hop

2. n a crime

3. n escapade 

4. n pickled flower buds used as a pungent relish in various dishes and sauces

So, if the question is, ‘What kind of capers?’, then the answer according to the definition above is: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Yes, ALL of the above.

Consider this my written confession.

I raise my hands & admit it – in all the years that I have been cooking, I have had capers in my kitchen in every sense of the word.

  1. I’ve hopped & danced around in my kitchen blasting music on my most essential kitchen equipment – my beloved bluetoothed radio
  2. I’ve committed many crimes against food – I’ve murdered vegetables, set things on fire, beaten things senseless…the list goes on. And each time, the inedible food has come with a BOGOF of a lesson learnt, a mistake to be corrected and improved upon.
  3. I’ve had escapades – the kitchen is where I experiment and reverse-engineer recipes (if I eat something delicious in a restaurant or at somebody’s home, I set myself the challenge of replicating it instead of taking the path of least resistance, i.e. asking for the recipe). Perhaps this isn’t everyone’s idea of an escapade but the thrill it gives me, especially when I finally nail it, is beyond compare.
  4. I love travelling and experiencing other cultures, but for most part of the year when I am not doing that, I armchair-travel by cooking up global flavours. For this reason, I keep my cupboards well-stocked with all kinds of ingredients (capers being just one of them), so I can take off to a distant land when I fancy, no passport required.

So that then sums up the ‘why’ of this blog. I have many stories to tell & places to go, so I hope that you will come along for a ride and enjoy the experience.