Have you made nasturtium seed capers? They are delicious, with a mild, horse-radish zing. I think they rival the better-known, bottled version. There is still time to sow the flowers and gather their seeds in early fall. (Remember to plant them deep.)
My recipe for nasturtium capers is on Gardenista along with some other very yummy ideas for eating the leaves, flowers, and fresh seeds. They are also good medicine.
The capers above are still in the process of lacto-fermenting (the linked recipe explains this - it's very simple) and were photographed on the kitchen table in Cape Town. My mom's rambunctious nasturtiums were shedding seeds like mad, and I pounced.
Here in Brooklyn, my windowbox seedlings have just popped up and should be blooming in a few weeks. Something to look forward to.
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I just read you column on nasturtium on Gardenista, love your writing. As I am from California, where nasturtium grows like a weed every spring, I have used them in salads, however, I did not know about collecting the seeds and lacto-fermenting and then pickling them!!! I too am a fanatical fermenter, forager, etc. So really appreciate your columns. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa! Yes, the weed-thing is real, unfortunately. In Cape Town (same Mediterranean climate) they have also escaped and run rampant. But at least...seeds! Have fun with this new fanatical-forager project :-)
DeleteOoh I am growing nasturtium in my garden this year. If I can collect enough seed, I will have to try this!
ReplyDeleteThey are delicious (sorry I missed your comment; Blogger notifications are awry!).
DeleteLove capers, so this recipe is definitely going into the file, and I shall hurry to get seeds in the ground! So glad to see your regular "gig" in Gardinista!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Win x
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