Dark green in colour and known for their unique flavour, capers have become a sweet success story for retirees Barry Porter and Helen Jones, as top chefs across the country are lining up for their highly demanded edible flower buds.

The retired couple planted their first caper plants 12 years ago, on their property in Barmera, South Australia and started selling their produce as Kolophon Capers in 2010.

Their plantation is now five times the size of when they first started, with 200 plants in the ground, yet they said they could double their production and still would not meet demand.

Barry Porter harvests four days a week and handpicks every single caper. ( Supplied: Kolophon Capers )

"When we started, we planned to do a couple of farmers markets and perhaps have a couple of retailers and if we were really lucky a chef or two," Mr Porter said.

"Now 90 per cent of our production all goes out to top chefs around Australia and I actually have a waiting list of chefs."

The couple settled on growing capers as the hardy desert plant suits the dry and hot Riverland climate.

"They use very little water, can handle our extremely hot summers and because they are deciduous most of the time they can handle our frosty winters," Mr Porter said.

Despite some frost damage earlier in this season, they are expecting to harvest a good crop this year.

"We will harvest about 100 kilograms of capers plus 35,000–40,000 stems of caper leaves and, if I am lucky this year, we might harvest some caper berries," Mr Porter said.

If a caper bud starts flowering and is pollinated it will develop into a caperberry. ( Supplied: Kolophon Capers )

Chefs value premium product for its taste

Jagerbraten with caper seasoning, fried capers and caper leaves. ( Supplied: St Hugo Restaurant )

Mr Porter said the capers and leaves were very popular in Australia's culinary world, whereas in Greece and Turkey they were only used in salads.

"I developed this pickling technique where they turn crisp, green and fruity," Mr Porter said.

"A lot of the top chefs in Australia now use them on a skewer between lamb — like George Calombaris, Heston Blumenthal uses them with octopus, Matt Moran in Sydney loves them in a steak tartare instead of the capers and some of our local chefs in the Barossa use them with the South Australian kingfish."

Executive Chef at St Hugo Restaurant in the Barossa, Mark McNamara, said they used the caper leaves with a salad, their kingfish dish and meat but also on platters as a simple pickle.

"They are a real punch of flavour, so we tend to use them sparingly, to give emphasis to a dish," Mr McNamara said.

Barry Porter and Helen Jones with their dog Ralph at their property in Barmera, both say they are still surprised by the high demand for their produce. ( Supplied: Kolophon Capers )

"It's hard to pinpoint the flavour, apart from just to say that it's absolutely unique — it's a purity of flavour that comes with these ones."

The chef said that in his experience, the pickling of capers can often mask the flavour of the fruit.

"I don't think I actually knew what a caper tasted like until I tried these once, they actually tasted like something," Mr McNamara said.

"A lot of times capers are marked by vinegar, or the salt is that heavy that you can't taste anything else, but there is a fragrance that comes of these capers that just gives it lightness and elegance.

"It's one of the best quality products out there on the market. You can buy cheap imported capers, but they are not a patch on what's being produced, there is a care that goes into it and there is a purity of flavour — and I think chefs will always look for the best quality."

Mr Porter said they wanted to produce a premium product but it was still a surprise to them how much demand there was for their produce.

"Helen and I just wanted a little retirement hobby, something we could work on," Mr Porter said.

Challenges for Australia's caper growers

One hurdle the growers have to deal with is the labour-intensive harvesting process, as every single caper has to be hand-picked.

The other issue is the caper white butterfly, which is a feared pest that caper growers have to battle with.

Mr Porter said the butterfly was associated with the native capers in Central Australia, yet every now and then they would get a swarm of them migrating to South Australia.

Barry Porter treating his plants with biodynamics to prevent the butterflies getting onto his plants. ( Supplied: Kolophon Capers )

"They will literally strip a plant of leaves in a few days if you are not careful," he said.

"The grubs, they lay 50 to 100 eggs at a time and the grubs are voracious, but we found a couple of biodynamics that I make up and ferment down from lavender, rosemary that the butterflies don't seem to like the smell and they stay away."

