1. Use either a zester, which you pull against the lemon to shave off fine strips, or a grater.
2. Chef Pfyl uses a Jo Seagar trick, covering the fine side of a grater with cling film, which makes it easy to lift off the zest when it has been grated.
In either case, you will want to avoid the white pith. Chef Pfyl recommends grating zest for baking as the flavour is more intense. Strips of lemon zest can be used as decoration, to infuse oil, in poached fruit, or chopped with parsley and a hint of...
Strips of lemon or orange zest can be candied - blanch in a sugar syrup (100g sugar to 100g water) for 10 minutes, drain and dust in caster sugar to decorate desserts.
Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier.
More information and videos on cooking from the Otago Polytechnic can be found on www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com
