The island is also in the middle of the ocean – 100km away from Sicily – which results in blisteringly hot days and very cold nights. This helps the caper plants develop a stronger aroma, so they’re more fragrant when picked. ‘It’s not easy to live in Pantelleria – there are incredible views and the weather is lovely but there’s not much for young people to do,’ says Gabriele. ‘It’s a small island of 8,000 people and far away from everything – you have to take a plane or ship for six hours to get to Sicily. We call it the ‘Island of the Wind’ because it’s incredibly windy here and things get blown away all the time, but there is a cinema, some restaurants, a library and a hospital.’

Traditionally, there was a severe lack of fresh water on Pantelleria. This meant capers were always stored in sea salt – produced in the Sicilian city of Trapani – instead of brine, which is the most common way of pickling capers. The moisture from the buds eventually created a pickling liquor, making Pantelleria capers stronger in flavour.

Harvesting the capers is tough work – you can’t use machinery, so the buds have to be hand-picked one at a time. ‘You have to be a true hero to work on Pantelleria,’ says Gabriele. ‘The island has always been an island of farmers, not fishermen, because it was always being invaded. This meant the inhabitants never settled on the coastline, preferring the shelter of the hills instead. We harvest roughly fourteen times every year, taking the same plant’s capers every eight days or so. The plants’ twigs lengthen from May to August and you can find the capers on top.

‘On an average day, I leave the house at 4.30am when it’s still dark and make my way through the countryside to where we grow our capers,’ he continues. ‘The harvest starts at around five and lasts until ten o’clock. It’s too hot after that time and since the plants soften in the heat, I run the risk of breaking the twigs. I then return to the field and continue picking between 5pm and 8pm.’