Caravaglio: The Salina Caper Farm Behind the Oil-Packed Jar
Salina is one of the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily, where farming has long rested on vines and capers. Caravaglio grows both. The farm sits in Malfa, one of Salina's three communes, and it has tended caper plants from the start. Caravaglio capers in olive oil (shop Caravaglio capers in olive oil) are Salina capers cured in salt and then packed in olive oil with oregano and bay, an island caper ready to use straight from the jar. For buds, berries, sizes and cures in general, see the capers and caperberries guide.
Who they are
Antonino Caravaglio, called Nino, comes from what his importer, Manicaretti, calls a historical family of Salina. His father picked about 2,500 kilos of capers a year and made red wine for sale in bulk. In an interview with Wine in Sicily, Nino describes the family farm as producing red wine, Malvasia di Lipari for passito, and capers, and traces the island's emigration back through his own family: his grandmother was born in Boston in 1898, after the phylloxera crisis sent Aeolian families abroad.
After his father's early death, his mother supported his education, and he studied agriculture at the University of Catania. He inherited two hectares of vineyard and began on his own in 1989. The company says it has farmed under organic certification since that same year, and in the Wine in Sicily interview Nino places it among the first producers to certify organic. By the importer's account the farm now runs to about 20 hectares split into parcels, some of them on other islands, and Nino manages the entire supply chain, from production to the sale of the capers and the bottled wine. In the same interview, Nino describes Malvasia on Salina, a three-hectare plot of Corinto nero on Lipari, and a small separate farm he set up on Stromboli with a friend.
Where the capers grow
On Caravaglio's land the caper is only half tamed. The producer describes plants that grow on their own or from cuttings, set along the edges of vineyards and on steep ground. It credits the island for the rest: volcanic soil, constant wind and very low humidity let the plant grow vigorously without treatments or fertilizer. The European specification for Aeolian capers names one more feature of the landscape, what it calls hidden precipitation, moisture that reaches the plants from humid air rather than as rain.
Picking is by hand, from May to August, in the cool hours at dawn and late in the afternoon, according to the producer. A caper is an unopened flower bud, and the producer describes the harvest as patient daily work through the whole summer. A bud left to open flowers, and the fruit that follows is a caperberry, called cucuncio in the islands.
How they are cured
Salt turns the bud into a caper. Caravaglio's cure has two published accounts, the producer's and the importer's, and they differ in the details. Here they are beside the Aeolian PDO specification.
| Producer's website | Importer, Manicaretti | Aeolian PDO specification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| After picking | Rested in the shade to keep color and aroma | Dried in the sun for a few days | Not stated in the sections cited |
| Sorting | By size, before salting | Not stated | Capers at least 4 mm; cucunci no more than 20 mm |
| Salt | Trapani sea salt, at 20 percent | Sea salt, with lactic fermentation | Dry sea salt or brine |
| Time | Turned repeatedly over about a month | 10 days, cleaned, then two months under fresh salt | Not stated in the sections cited |
| Finished pack | 150 g pack under salt | 90 g or 1 kg under sea salt; separate lines in oil and in wine vinegar | In sea salt or in brine only |
The two accounts agree on sea salt and on a cure that runs for weeks rather than days. They part on length. The website describes about a month of turning in salt, and the importer describes ten days in salt followed by two months under fresh salt.
Four formats, two outside the seal
Manicaretti imports four Caravaglio caper products: salted capers in two sizes, capers in wine vinegar, and capers in olive oil and herbs.
| Format | Ingredients, per importer | Size | Can carry the Aeolian PDO? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salted capers from Salina | Capers, sea salt | 90 g; calibre 6 to 7 mm | Eligible format (sea salt) |
| Salted capers, bulk | Capers, sea salt | 1 kg; calibre 6 to 7 mm | Eligible format (sea salt) |
| Capers in wine vinegar | Not tabled here | Not tabled here | No; vinegar is not a permitted pack |
| Capers in olive oil and herbs | Capers, extra virgin olive oil, salt, wine vinegar, oregano, bay leaves | 200 g | No; oil is not a permitted pack |
The reason two of the four sit outside the seal is in the rulebook. Cappero delle Isole Eolie became a protected designation of origin under Regulation (EU) 2020/624 of 30 April 2020, published in May 2020. It covers capers and cucunci grown in the commune of Lipari, which takes in six of the islands, and in Santa Marina Salina, Malfa and Leni on Salina. Production and packing must both happen inside that zone, and the product may be sold in only two forms: in sea salt or in brine. A caper finished in olive oil or in wine vinegar falls outside that definition, however local the bud. Caravaglio's oil jar is sold as Sicilian capers grown on Salina, inside the zone, and still cannot carry the PDO logo. The seal certifies the pack as well as the place.
Salt pack and oil jar in the kitchen
Salt-packed capers are made to be rinsed: the producer tells buyers to rinse them thoroughly under running water before use, and the importer advises adjusting the salt in recipes accordingly. The importer suggests the salted capers from the same farm for caponata, sauces, stuffings, pasta and rice salads, and steamed potatoes with pickled red onion. The caper buying guide covers grades and labels.
The oil jar is made to be used as it comes. The buds go through the same salt cure first, per the importer, and are then jarred in extra virgin olive oil with a little wine vinegar, oregano and bay. The importer suggests spooning them straight from the jar over grilled fish, roast chicken or sliced pork loin, into a seafood pasta, or through a pasta or rice salad. The oil can go into the dish too, a spoonful in a vinaigrette or over warm potatoes.
Around the jar
Capers and anchovy meet in puttanesca and salsa verde, covered in the anchovies guide. In tapenade the partner is olives, covered in the olives guide. For comparison, I Contadini capers in salt (shop I Contadini capers in salt) come from Racale, in Puglia, and Divina caperberries (shop Divina caperberries) are the fruit that follows the flower.
The Ambrosian Pantry ships nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com, and the shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver.
Sources & Further Reading
- Azienda Agricola Biologica Caravaglio: capers (cultivation, harvest, salting, format)
- Azienda Agricola Biologica Caravaglio: company history and organic certification
- Manicaretti Imports: Antonino Caravaglio, producer profile
- Manicaretti Imports: Sicilian capers in olive oil and herbs
- Manicaretti Imports: salted capers from Salina, calibre 6 to 7 mm
- Wine in Sicily: Nino Caravaglio on the Aeolian Islands and Malvasia delle Lipari
- EUR-Lex: Cappero delle Isole Eolie PDO, single document (OJ C 402, 28 November 2019)
- Fondazione Qualivita: registration of Cappero delle Isole Eolie PDO, Regulation (EU) 2020/624
- The Pantry Dispatch: Capers and Caperberries, The Complete Guide
