A few days ago I posted a recipe for dried plantain chips, where I mentioned that I’d be posting a couple easy trail food items before sharing the full-meal recipes from the backpack trip I prepared for last week. Here’s an item that makes my taste buds really happy. It’s a strange food to some – and one I’ve never liked until recently: Dried capers!
I have always disliked these strange, green little units. Go figure, but after trying a friend’s recipe for olive-caper tapenade, I suddenly think capers are the bee’s knees! I’d never seen dried capers, so I decided to throw some on a dehydrator tray during one of my marathon drying days, to see how they’d turn out. Let me tell you, dried capers pack a delicious punch! Why capers? It’s always nice to have some surprises in the food bag (and…the trickster in me wants to convince someone that a squirrel pooped in their gorp… I’m just like that)! Capers are salty, pungent, full of personality. They’d be great in a savory gorp that wants to be salty (not sweet) or sprinkled sparingly over a dish that can stand up to strong flavors. I like to eat them plain, too.
If you want to spice up your trail snack bag, dry some capers and enjoy them on your next outdoor adventure!
How To
- Spread a jar of capers out on a dehydrator tray (or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, if using an oven).
- Make them one layer and leave some air space – not stacked or overlapped.
- Dry at 125 F for about 6 hours, rolling them around occasionally, and they will shrink down to less than a quarter of their original bulk.
- Cool completely before packaging in an airtight container. If condensation appears in container after sealing, they are not totally dry; if so, dehydrate for another hour.
- Store in a cool, dry place, preferably in the dark.
Check out the image below: the capers on the left had the same volume as the capers on the right before drying!
Fabulous! Can you grind them when dried, like little zingy pepper kernels?
Hi Wiley! Yep, you can grind them up. I’d use a coffee/spice grinder, since a blender may not catch the kernels (unless you grind a lot of them at once). Now that’s an idea… caper powder… I like it!