zester

{{Short description|Kitchen utensil for obtaining zest}}

Image:Zesting an orange.jpg

Image:Zester.jpg

A zester (also citrus zester or lemon zester) is a kitchen utensil for obtaining zest from lemons and other citrus fruit. A kitchen zester is approximately {{Convert | 4 | in | spell = in}} long, with a handle and a curved metal end, the top of which is perforated with a row of round holes with sharpened rims. To operate, the zester is pressed with moderate force against the fruit and drawn across its peel. The rims cut the zest from the pith underneath. The zest is cut into ribbons, one drawn through each hole.{{cite news|publisher=Saint Petersburg Times|author=James A. Beard|date=1970-02-16|title=Man's Best Friends:Stripper and Zester|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2gAOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KHwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7282,4788177&dq=zester}}

Other tools are also sometimes called zesters because they too are able to separate the zest from a citrus fruit. For example, when Microplane discovered that its surform type wood rasps had become popular as food graters and zesters, it adapted the woodworking tools and marketed them as "zester / graters".{{cite news|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2000/FOOD/news/12/11/holiday.shopping/|title=A potpourri of unusual holiday gifts for your favorite chef|date=2000-12-11}}