The topic is citrus zest. It's a common ingredient in all sorts of recipes. In my kitchen I mostly use it in baked goods like pies, cakes, tarts, torts, puddings and custards. That said, I use occasionally in soups, salads, sauces, many pasta, fish and/0r seafood dishes, and, of course, to garnish cocktails too. Why? It adds a fresh pop of citrus flavor without the tartness of the juice.
Lemons are the most commonly zested citrus fruit, followed by limes, oranges and grapefruit. Depending on whether you need wide strips, thin chards, or fine pieces, you'll need a vegetable peeler, a citrus zester, or, a microplane grater -- it's worth mentioning that while an old-fashioned box grater can be used for any of these zesting tasks (it's what our grandmothers used), trust me, the peeler, the zester and the microplane grater do a must better job. There's more. When a recipe calls for both citrus zest and juice, be sure to zest the whole fruit before you juice it because it's almost impossible to zest a messy, wet piece of squeezed citrus fruit
Zesting a lemon is the same as zesting any other citrus fruit.
No matter what size or shape of zest you're in need of, it's important to avoid what's called the pith. What's the pith? The peel of citrus fruit has two parts: the rind and the pith. The rind is the colorful exterior, which is where the zest comes from. The pith is the white cotton-like substance just below the rind that clings to the fruit beneath it. The pith is really bitter, so, when zesting with any tool, even a paring knife, do your best to avoid it. The goal is to remove the colorful, thin outer layer while avoiding the thicker, white pith. Once the fruit is zested, it's important to know the zest does not have a long shelf-life so, I recommend only zesting as much as you need at one time. While it can be frozen, even then it only lasts a week or two before the quality deteriorates.
1 lemon = about 1 tablespoon zest
1 lime = about 2 teaspoons zest
1 orange = about 2 tablespoons zest
1 grapefruit = about 3 tablespoons zest
Fresh is best so only zest as much as you need.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
Comments