CAPERS IN THOOTHUKUDI

Mexican Amarillo chillies from Bangalore, vanilla pods from Pollachi, and now, argentinian capers from a little village in tuticorin, about 95 km from Madurai. Enterprising produce suppliers across the country are filling up our larders with locally grown exotica, and the latest addition - little jars of organic capers in brine and sea salt is already inspiring menus at restaurants in Mumbai and Kochi.

                The capers ‘ producers are on the right track, for Fiona Arakal of Ishka Farms hopes to convert people already acquainted with imported capers, before moving on to the first-timers.

                Capers are versatile and have antioxidant, anti inflammatory and anti ageing property.

                Firm and full of flavor when packed in sea salt, capers might need a through rinse, before squeezing dry. That said, culinary enthusiasts insist that you use it as you please.

                Rs.340 onwards at ishkafarms.com

                Kochi residents Fiona and her husband Srikant Suryanarayan’s three year journey to get the capers from farm to jar hasn’t been easy. “When Srikant purchased 365 acres of arid land in Ettayapuram, Tuticorin,   there was not a tree in sight, forget birds or bees. You’d expect the normal reaction to a mid life crisis to be to go out and get a Ferrari or a girl friend!” jests Fiona. Their family business of photography supplies was managed by an efficient team, she adds on a more serious note, giving them the freedom to “rejig (their) lives and focus on value addition not box selling”. Capers, an odd choice in a region that is known to harvest sunflowers, black gram and chillies, was courtesy a chance meeting between srikant and an Argentine farmer in St petersburg. Srikant then travelled to large caper farms in Argentina and Mexico, before deciding on his plan of action. “we wanted a crop that would produce right through the year, would require less water and that was different from what everyone was growing in India,” explains Fiona. The challenges were many, from amending the caper plant import rule to finding a place for said plant to be quarantined.

                Then came the lessons in agriculture, finding farm hands, customizing drip irrigation and a water management system for the capers, and driving 45 minutes from the farm just to get a cell phone signal. Their decision to cultivate moringa in the interim had great results. “Srikant is the ideas man, I am the realist,” says Fiona, who has been marketing moringa powder over the last year, together with recipes for moringa in bread or in mango curry.