Please Take This Giant Jar of Capers

I have a giant jar of nonpareil capers that I'd like to get rid of. The brand name is "Paesana" and it's a 32oz jar (yes, a full quart of capers). It has never been opened and it's free to a good home.

Why do I have this and why do I not want it?
A certain family member of mine has a ridiculous shopping habit. She purchased these capers at Costco for $5 because, well, it's cheaper. Completely disregarding the fact that she cant' use them, doesn't want them, and doesn't need them, she buys two jars anyway, because it's a good deal. Even weirder is that she gave it to me and I didn't want it (and I said so). So, now she has neither capers nor her $5, but somehow she thinks she's ahead in this game.

I had a $2.50 jar of capers in my cabinet that I used 3/4ths of for a brunch at my house today, but she showed up with this. Even if I tried hard, it would take me 5-7 years to use this many capers. I have limited cabinet space and I don't want to waste it on this jar.

If there's anyone out there who thinks they can make use of this, please let me know in this thread or via PM. I'll figure out how to get it to you.

Thanks,
Michael

I would take that jar of capers if noone else wants it. We make Pasta Puttanesca a LOT. Here's the recipe-- it's so good you might change your mind about needing that many capers.

1 lb pasta (spaghetti)
6 cloves garlic, chopped
16 black olives, pitted and chopped
2 Tablespoons capers, rinsed
2 anchovies (do not omit)
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil

Start boiling the pasta. As the pasta cooks, make the sauce: Heat the
garlic in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the garlic starts
to smell good. Add the olives, capers, and anchovies and stir around
for about 10 seconds. Add the tomatoes and simmer, stirring when you
feel like it, until the tomatoes reduce a bit and the whole thing
looks like a sauce, whatever that means (about 5 minutes). Drain the
pasta and serve with the sauce. No cheese. Some add basil and parsley-- my kid hates green bits, so we do without. I do add a fried egg on the top.

Jen

I have one of those giant Costco-bought bottles of capers, and we are working our way through it. I'm a good deal more generous with caper use now than when I had only little jars. Virtually unlimited capers availability is a good excuse to buy lox, too.

Does Costco still carry them? I couldn't find them at Clybourn.

Jen

Pie-love wrote:Does Costco still carry them? I couldn't find them at Clybourn.

Jen

My bottle is hardly brand new . I bought it at the Niles Costco, and I think I saw it there not too long ago but couldn't swear to it.

Pie-love wrote:Does Costco still carry them? I couldn't find them at Clybourn.

Jen

AFter being missing in action for a while, I found those quart jars of capers at the Mettawa Costco store. The price card had an asterisk, which means it is the last of their inventory.

I bought five jars at $4.99 each. Four go to a friend and one on my shelf to be used up eventually.

At Tenuta's in Kenosha, they offer capers packed in oil for around $4 per pound. I didn't care much for the oil choice, so I drained it and added olive oil.

If you like using capers, this quart jar at Costco is a good deal.

Regards,

Interesting-- I saw them at the Clybourn Costco last week-- I'll have to get a few more in case they're getting phased out. I didn't know about the asterisk thing!

Jen

They've always got them at Caputo Cheese (not to be confused with Caputo's) near North Ave and 15th in Melrose Park. I never make tuna salad without capers! (Oh, and they've got pretty good prices on both cans of Genova tuna in olive oil though you have to be careful. Last time I was there, two of the three ounce cans cost less than one five ounce).

Pie-love wrote:I didn't know about the asterisk thing!

Jen

I learned about it here, I believe from jlawrence01.

Regards,

Hi,

I had recently run out of capers. I was regretting not any left from Costco last year.

Never fear, the annual availability of giant jar of capers season is in full swing. I bought my jar at Costco-Mettawa for $5.69 last week.

This is good news as well as recently finding the one pound tin of anchovies I misplaced a year ago. Life is good when all the odd bits can be accounted for.

Regards,

A quart jar of capers, a one-pound tin of anchovies... makes the mind giddy with possibilities!!

Geo

Geo wrote:A quart jar of capers, a one-pound tin of anchovies... makes the mind giddy with possibilities!!

Geo

And in the background, someone reminded me about the gallon bottle of horseradish sauce in the fridge.

Yeah, when you have a lot of something, you don't carefully meter out the ingredients. I also buy the really big bags of shiitake mushrooms at Chinese shops.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I also buy the really big bags of shiitake mushrooms at Chinese shops.,

If you run out of things to do with them, you can never have too much of Momofuku's soy-pickled shiitakes. Sweet, gingery, salty, umami -- perfect addition to salads, sandwiches, ramen...

Trader Joe's carries capers - the little tiny, delicious type.
Reasonable too (although the price has risen over the years.)

Lemon chicken with capers -yummm!