Zester
A zester or zester (also Zestenschneider , Zestenschaber ) is a small kitchen tool for the production of so-called zest - very thin strips of the outermost pericarp of citrus fruit or vegetable , the garnish and / or flavoring of food can be used. It consists of a handle made of plastic or metal and a short blade , mostly made of stainless steel , sometimes made of hard plastic. At the upper end of the sheet there are several blades in the form of fine, sharp-edged holes with which the zests are “torn off” (or “cut off”, “peeled off” or “scraped off”).
Zester rippers are available in various shapes and materials. Some models also have a somewhat larger, ring-shaped blade attached below the end of the blade or on the side of the blade (see picture) , with which somewhat coarser individual strips can be pulled off.
Zester tears make it possible to peel off such thin strips from citrus fruits that only the outermost, colored layer of the exocarp is cut off, and not the bitter , white lower layer (albedo or mesocarp). The cutting depth can be varied somewhat by the angle at which the zest ripper is held towards the citrus fruit or vegetable and the pressure exerted.
