How to prepare dandelion “capers”: tasty and healthy

Capers are a staple of our culinary tradition. “Classic” capers are nothing other than the flower buds of the homonymous plant. But did you know that dandelions also produce edible buds?

Harvested while still very small, dandelion buds can be preserved and eaten in the same way as capers. We explain how to do this below.

The first thing to do is find some very small  dandelion buds  . Do not pick the unopened flowers that are on the top of the plant, but the closed buds that are closest to the ground.

Dandelions produce not just one flower, but several throughout the season. Even if you harvest all of these secondary buds, the plant will still produce flowers.

Now that you have the  dandelion buds  , it’s time to marinate them with vinegar and salt. This method will allow us to keep them for a very long time.

You need: 150 grams of dandelion buds, 150 ml of vinegar, 80 ml of water, 1 tablespoon of salt.

Bring the water, vinegar and salt to a boil, stirring well to dissolve. Put the capers in glass jars and pour the brine over them.

Close and store in the refrigerator. Alternatively, process the jars in a water bath for 10 minutes. This last method will allow us to keep the jars out of the fridge.