Zest (ingredient)

Zest[1] is a food ingredient that is prepared by scraping or cutting from the rind of unwaxed citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, citron, and lime.

After any surface wax has been removed, a zester, grater, vegetable peeler, paring knife, or even a surform tool is used to scrape or cut zest from the fruit.

Fruit with peels that are almost all flavedo are generally mandarins; relatives of pomelos and citrons tend to have thicker mesocarp.

Zest also is added to certain dishes (including ossobuco alla milanese), marmalades, sauces, sorbets and salads.

Zest is a key ingredient in a variety of sweet and sour condiments, including lemon pickle, lime chutney, and marmalade.

Zesting an orange
Cross-section of an orange. The flavedo is zested; the bitter white albedo or pith is generally not used.
Orange having more colored flavedo than white albedo
Zesting a lime ; the white mesocarp is visible under the green flavedo
Slicing mesocarp from flavedo to make marmalade, using a flexible filet-style knife.
Dried mandarin peel used whole as a seasoning ( chenpi in Chinese).