A caper is a "frolicsome leap," "a capricious escapade" or a "questionable or illegal activity," according to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

A caper is also the brined bud of the caper bush, but some of the above descriptions could still apply.

You could say that these pungent, pea-size morsels offer a "frolicsome leap," or a bit of an adventure, into flavorful dining. (Hey, it's leap year, why not?)

Questionable? Well, a lot of people seem suspicious of these little buds, wondering what those little green things are in their pasta salad — anchovies? Peppercorns? Cornichons? They often get lumped into that "nebulous" category of ingredients.

Capers play a supporting role in French, Italian, Greek and Spanish cooking because the prickly caper bush thrives in areas bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The immature flower buds are hand-harvested and preserved in vinegar or salt-cured. Pickling gives them a strong, salty-sour flavor. The fruit, or berries, of the caper bush are also pickled and look like large green olives with stems.

You've never eaten capers? Well, if you've had tapenade (olive spread) or Italian puttanesca sauce, or a chicken or veal picatta, you probably have. You might not have recognized them, but they're found in numerous local restaurant dishes.

"We go through upward of 1,000 cases of capers a year," said Sam Granato, whose Frank Granato Importing Co. supplies Mediterranean ingredients for restaurants and home cooks. "Not only are the caper buds used in cooking, but the larger caper berries are used as an hors d'oeuvre."

In Greece, capers are used along with olives in salads, or to enhance stews and spreads, according to author Susanna Hoffman in her book, "The Olive and the Caper" (Workman, $19.95).

Together, olives and capers "represent the union of hard work and nature, so very Greek in essence, and speak to the largesse of small offerings, a Greek credo," writes Hoffman.

"I love capers," said Marguerite Marceau Henderson, Salt Lake cookbook author. "Salad Nicoise is a French classic, and you have to have capers in the dressing. The lemon in it cuts the brininess of the capers. And chicken or veal picatta isn't a picatta without the capers."

Chicken picatta calls for chicken breast cutlets dredged in flour, browned and served with a sauce of butter, lemon juice, capers, and chicken stock or white wine.

Henderson saw caper bushes firsthand while traveling in Sicily. "There were caper bushes growing alongside the road, and you can see the little buds," she said. "I'd ask people what's this beautiful bush?"

Capers are used in several recipes from her latest cookbook, "Small Parties" (Gibbs Smith, $19.95). The Salmon Nicoise Salad is a twist on the usual tuna-based salad. And Chicken Under a Brick has a buttery garlic caper sauce.