Blooming in June: Caper Bush – צלף קוצני

June 2019 Sivan תשע"ט

What’s in bloom in Israel this month?

Common Caper - צלף קוצני - Capparis Spinosa

It’s dry dry dry out there.  We are just a month after the terrible forest fires that swept through Ben Shemen Forest and tragically burnt down Moshav Mevo Modiin.  Neot Kedumim was also affected by the same fire as it crossed the 443 road and started to singe the edges of the reserve.  Our amazing staff fought off the fire and extinguished it with their feet, hoses and a tiny fire truck.  Their perseverance, heroic deeds and dedication ensured that Neot Kedumim is still there in all its glory.  I thank them all.

Perseverance is often used when describing the caper bush. This is a dense and thorny shrub that sprouts its branches, flowers and fruit only after the last spring rains have ended and often out of walls and rocks.  When everything else is parched and weary under the burning sun, the caper bush pushes out what I believe is the one of the most beautiful flowers in the world. It has a white backdrop of petals that provide a frame for the delicate tendrils which start as yellow and gradually turn into pink and then purple.

Perseverance can also used to describe the family bearing the Caper name in the Bible.  The Tzlofchad women were without a father and as women were not able to inherit a piece of land in Eretz Israel. They came forward and asked for what they believed to be theirs and their perseverance was rewarded by a change of law to allow women to inherit.

The flower flops after 11:00am

The new flower opens after 18:oo

Let’s look closer, not just at the beautiful flower but also the branch.  When starting at the top of the branch the bud starts to form and then every day the bud gets bigger and bigger until the fifth to sixth day.  This is when the flower opens.  Now let’s check the clock! Up until about 11 o’clock in the morning the flower will be fully open and in its full glory. However if you slept in and only see the flower later then the caper flower will have wilted and all those beautifully  erect tendrils will now be flopped down on  the petals. I know how it feels while guiding in the heat as we often wilt after 11am but we persevere on.  The flower opens at about 6pm the evening before and lasts about 16 hours total.  Like us, it likes to come out when the sun is going down and it is cooler and the flower holds out only until the heat builds up late morning. That flower will not open again and that evening the next bud in turn will open up. A new flower every day!

In the Talmud Rabbi Gamliel taught his students that “in the future the trees will produce fruit every day” (Yehezkel 17:23) but one of his students laughed and said ‘doesn’t it state “There is nothing new under the sun”? (Kohelet 1:9).  As proof Rabbi Gamliel then led his students out to see the daily new caper fruit forming.

When we think of capers, we think of the little intensely pickled green balls that are often served with smoked salmon and cream cheese.  These capers are not the fruit but are actually the bud of the flower that are picked on the fourth day of growth (remember a day or so later they will already blossom).  The actual fruit of the caper bush grows after the flower has finished and they look like mini oval watermelons. Both the fruit and the bud have to be pickled otherwise they are very bitter.  As well as being delicious with smoked salmon they are good in salads on pizza or with fish.  They are full of vitamins A, B, E and K and good for clotting blood and healthy bones. 

Buds awaiting picking and pickling!

Picking the buds or fruit or requires perseverance and care as the caper bush has nasty little thorns which curl inwards and scratch you as you take your hand out of the bush. These thorns are mentioned in one of the many tales relating to King Solomon.  While eating at a banquet he started to choke on a fish bone.  All the plants tried to save him but it was the caper with its hooked thorn that finally managed to hook the bone from his throat.  He blessed the caper and said that from then on it would grow in the holiest places in the world.  Next time you are at the Kotel check out the caper bushes growing out of the wall.

So you want to pickle a caper?

Soak half a cup of caper buds in a closed jar with water for 3 days, changing the water every 24 hours then drain them.

Mix half a cup of cider vinegar, half a cup of water and a tablespoon of salt. Boil this up and let it cool. Mix with the capers and store in a closed jar in the fridge for a week. 

Photos by Yasmin Maissel