Recipes call for citrus zest all the time. They may require a fine powder of zest that will fully infiltrate a cake batter (tool: Microplane), or it might be a long wide strip used to flavour a stew that is removed before serving (tool: vegetable peeler). Or it may be a julienne of zest to deliver a flavour hit in a dessert, salad or sauce. The character of the zest is different with all these methods of preparation, adding a different dimension to the finished dish. I feel as though I spent my entire cooking school career making julienned zest, but those years are a bit of a blur now.

You could just use a citrus zester but I like this method better. You have more control over how much of the pith is removed, and the resulting strips have more body. Plus, you don’t need a special little gadget, just a vegetable peeler and a sharp knife.Here is the technique I learned at school for making julienned zest.

1. Get Peel

Use a vegetable peeler to remove strips of peel from your fruit, lime, lemon, orange or any other unwaxed, preferably organic citrus fruit. Why organic? Well we are going to be eating the very outer layer of the fruit, where all that nasty spray is most prominent.

2. Remove Pith

Now we want to remove the white pith from the coloured zest. Although the pith contains pectin and is necessary when making jams and marmalades, it is also quite bitter so we want to get rid of as much as possible. Use a sharp knife and sheer the pith off cutting horizontally away from you (seriously guys, cut away from you). This technique s is similar to removing the skin from a side of fish. As you can see from the image you can cut the pith away from half of the zest first, this leaves you room to hold on to it. When half of the zest is clean, turn it around and remove the pith from the other half. If you miss some, don’t worry you can always cut it off later.

3. Julienne Zest

When enough pith is removed it is time to julienne. Square the short ends off, and then cut one ragged edge off. Cut long strips of zest as thin as possible while still maintaing their structural integrity.

4. Blanch Zest

Put zest in a small pan and cover with cold water. Heat. When the water reaches boiling point, strain the zest out and refresh under cold water. Repeat this process one more time. Taste your zest. If it is still bitter and unpleasant to eat, blanch it one more time. I never got around to taking a photo of the blanched zest, but it looks just like the raw zest, just a little limper and less green.

5. Eat Zest

When you can eat a strip of zest without being smacked in the head with bitterness it is ready to use.

Might seem like a lot of steps, but do it once or twice and you’ll get the hang of it. Plus the finished product is way better than eating a lemon or lime whole. Am I right?