The Right Pickle Can Change Your Life

The right pickle can change the way you eat. I use the word "pickle" quite broadly—a pickle, to me, is any food (usually a vegetable or fruit) that has been preserved with salt, vinegar or the act of fermentation, giving it longer shelf life and tangy flavor. Capers fall into the this category.

Capers are the epitome of piquant. Instead of melding into the other flavors in a dish, they interrupt. They make your tongue pause, slow down and stop to taste the flower buds. (And they do grow into beautiful flowers if you let them.)

What are they good on? Everything, but steaks especially. They deepen the umami, while providing little bursts of acid. You can get elaborate with them and whirr them in a food processor with walnuts and garlic to make an especially pungent pesto, or you can toss them into a simple pan sauce of red wine and butter (which is what I have been doing recently).

The most obvious route to take with capers is pasta. Combine them with pancetta, lemon and breadcrumbs and toss with spaghetti for something that’s balanced and satisfying; make a pesto with hazelnuts and parsley; or get real indulgent and cook them alongside sea scallops in nutty browned butter (do not forget the lemon here).

Then there are fried capers, which remind me of tiny, slightly chewy, intensely savory pieces of popcorn. We use them as a finishing flourish for this ziti dish, but you can sprinkle them on anything—pizza, bruschette, salads. I’ve been known to eat them by themselves, as a little snack, much like popcorn. Just be sure to pat them dry before tossing them into hot oil. Safety first!

If capers are a bit much for your palate—my boyfriend, bless him, can’t hang—there are other pickles you can explore. A quick pickled cucumber is my favorite thing to toss with tuna salad (or onto a bagel with lox), and I make pickled red onions or at least once a week, for tacos, rice bowls, even avocado toast.

But the most surprising pickle is a pickled grape. It hits you like sour candy, tart and sweet, with a hint of woodsy warmth from cardamom pods. And, if you’re not a fan of grapes, do not fear: You can pickle any fruit. (A pickled apple on a ham sandwich will change your life!)

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.