How to Grate Citrus Peel

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

Grated citrus peel, also known as zest, adds an appealingly sharp citrus bite to dishes. Many recipes call for both the juice and zest.

In this video, Jen uses two tools, a rasp (often called a Microplane, which is a brand name) and a zester to show you how to grate the peel. The rasp gives a finer grated peel. Rasps have different sizes of grating teeth, from fine to coarse, so pick the size that suits your needs best. The zester gives thicker curlicues of grated peel.

Your recipe and your own taste preference will determine which tool is better for you. Whichever tool you use, grate just the colored part of the peel; do not grate the white part, called with pith, which is bitter.

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Inside Special Fork: Behind the Scenes of our Video Blogs

By Sandy Hu

It’s a gorgeous Sunday morning in San Francisco. But instead of going out to enjoy it – and heaven knows we’ve had few perfect summer days to revel in – my son Dave and I are dutifully chopping and measuring and getting ready to shoot another Special Fork video blog.

Fridays are video days on our blog site and we are committed to introducing a new video blog every week. Dave and I comb through the Special Fork beta site looking for recipes to spotlight that are quick, easy and delicious, and that offer a teachable moment. Sometimes, we simply want to show how do-able a recipe is, even for beginners.

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