10.20.26 | Lemon Aid

The Mistress of Zest at work. (click on photo to see how it’s done)

It is a pet peeve of mine that I have held inside for way too long.  

It drives me crazy. I watch The Great British Baking Show and yell at the television as folks do it wrong over and over again. You're not doing it right!  

With our signature Lemon Meringue back on the menu, I've been zesting bushels of lemons and so it's been on my mind lately. Most people are zesting incorrectly.   

Please stop zesting citrus with a cheese grater and please keep the skin of the fruit that you are zesting in your field of vision! It's really important that the pith not be zested as it will ruin the beautiful burst of lemon flavor that one gets from the zest. It even came up in one of the newer episodes where the judges noticed that perhaps there was some pith incorporated in the zest, which therefore added an unwelcome bitterness.  

I hold the lemon in my left hand and the zester in my right hand with the blades facing the fruit. I make one swipe with the zester and then rotate the fruit so that I never zest the same spot twice. Repeat until the entire fruit is clear of its shiny skin. The zester collects all of the perfectly shaved outer later and I swipe it into a container for its intended use.  

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  

Also, the fruit is easier to juice once it has been zested.

—Becca