Zester

A zester or zester (also Zestenschneider, Zestenschaber ) is a small kitchen tool for the production of so-called zest - very thin strip of the outer pericarp of citrus fruits or vegetables that are used to garnish and / or flavoring food. It consists of a handle made of plastic or metal and a short blade, usually made of stainless steel, partly made ​​of hard plastic. At the upper end of the sheet, there are several blades in the form of fine, sharp-edged holes to " demolished " the zest (or " cut ", " withdrawn " or " scraped " ) are.

Commercially zester are available in various forms and materials. Some models also have a - below the leaf end or side-mounted on the leaf (see picture) - slightly larger, circular blade can be removed with the slightly coarser individual strips.

Zester it possible to deduct such thin strips of citrus fruit that only the outermost layer of the colored exocarp is cut off, and not bitter -containing white underclass (albedo or mesocarp ). By the angle in which the zester is held for citrus fruit or the vegetable, and the applied pressure, the cutting depth can be varied somewhat.