Zest is the outer, colorful skin of
citrus fruit, known botanically as the
exocarp. It is often used to add strong flavor to foods, such as lemon
meringue pie,
sorbets and salads.
Zest has become a synonym for spice, strong flavor or interesting taste.
To remove the zest from a fruit for culinary use, a zester, vegetable peeler, paring knife, or even a wood rasp is used to scrape the colored part of the peel off. The white membrane under the zest (pith, albedo or mesocarp) is unpleasantly bitter and generally avoided by limiting the peeling depth. The white membrane can be used for cooking, when the entire thickness of the peel is candied, then it is called succade.
pan style="white-spacenowrap">Ajwain (bishop's weed)&_160;• Aleppo pepper&_160;• Allspice&_160;• Amchur (mango powder)&_160;• Anise&_160;• Aromatic ginger&_160;• Asafoetida&_160;• Camphor&_160;• Caraway&_160;• Cardamom&_160;• Cardamom, black&_160;• Cassia&_160;• Cayenne pepper&_160;• Celery seed&_160;• Chenpi&_160;• Chili&_160;• Cinnamon&_160;• Clove&_160;• Coriander seed&_160;• Cubeb&_160;• Cumin&_160;• Cumin, black&_160;• Dill & dill seed&_160;• Fennel&_160;• Fenugreek&_160;• Fingerroot (krachai)&_160;• Galangal, greater&_160;• Galangal, lesser&_160;• Garlic&_160;• Ginger&_160;• Golpar&_160;• Grains of Paradise&_160;• Grains of Selim&_160;• Horseradish&_160;• Juniper berry&_160;• Liquorice&_160;• Mace&_160;• Mahlab&_160;• Malabathrum (tejpat)&_160;• Mustard, black&_160;• Mustard, brown&_160;• Mustard, white&_160;• Nigella (kalonji)&_160;• Nutmeg&_160;• Paprika&_160;• Peppercorn (black, green & white)&_160;• Pepper, long&_160;• Pepper, Brazilian&_160;• Pepper, Peruvian&_160;• Pomegranate seed (anardana)&_160;• Poppy seed&_160;• Saffron&_160;• Sarsaparilla&_160;• Sassafras&_160;• Sesame&_160;• Sichuan pepper (huajiao, sansho)&_160;• Star anise&_160;• Sumac&_160;• Tasmanian pepper&_160;• Tamarind&_160;• Tonka bean&_160;• Turmeric&_160;• Vanilla&_160;• Wasabi&_160;• Zedoary&_160;• Zest
