Dry Pearls

The caper — the unopened flower bud of Capparis spinosa — is one of the oldest preserved foods in the Mediterranean repertoire, and one of its most singular flavours: a mustard-floral aromatic released from the bud’s glucocapparin, plus the salt-cure brine of long preservation. Dry Pearls takes salt-cured capers and freeze-dries them. Vacuum sublimation removes water without heat, preserving cellular structure while concentrating flavour many times over per gram. The result is a pearl-grey- green crisp globe with the dimensions of the original nonpareille bud — but with the brine, the floral-mustard, and the saline finish amplified to an intensity unattainable in the hydrated form. Pearls of the sea-and-sun, brittle on first bite, dissolving into a concentrated brine on the tongue.