All About Citrus: Zesting

We have gathered our best tips and tricks to show you how to make use of all the juicy citrus in your Boxes – although just eating them whole is never a bad option!

First up is zesting, which is grating the outer layer of citrus skin into small strips or “dust.” Zest can be used to add flavor to a lot of things and the citrus remains unharmed for you to use in the same dish or with something else. Add zest to beverages, baked goods, or cooking for a punch of citrus flavor, or candy the peel for a sweet and tangy treat. Our video will show you how to properly zest citrus so you can get the best flavor to go with your culinary creations.

Make sure to follow our Blog to see more produce ideas, tips and tricks. Our next how to citrus video will be on supreming citrus (a process that cuts the membrane away from the fruit so you can get the perfect segments)!

Steps to getting the perfect zest from your citrus:

1. Wash and dry your fruit thoroughly. A clean fruit/vegetable brush can be used to scrub.
2. Grab a microplane for a thinner zest (for cooking) or a paring knife (for thicker peels for candying). If you don’t have one, a vegetable peeler or the fine side of a box grater will work – just be careful to only zest the peel!
3. You will also want something to collect the zest on – think a cutting board or flat dish.
4. Hold the handle of the microplane or the grater in one hand and the citrus in the other. Glide the fruit across the plane – be careful not to squeeze the fruit too hard.
5. Grate the fruit from end to end pressing hard enough to make sure you are getting through the peel. Rotate the fruit as you go so that you only grate each section of the peel once to avoid getting the bitter inner membrane.
6. If you feel as if the zest is too large, you can always use a knife afterwards to slice or dice it into thinner pieces using a small, sharp knife.

7.      Enjoy all the great dishes you can make using citrus zest!