I had never seen or thought of drying zest from lemons, limes, oranges etc.  Not until I visited friend C who sat grating, while we chatted.

Why do you do it?, I asked. C explained that when she had a glut of citrus fruit she would always do this, so as not to waste the rind. Then she had the zest available all year around to add into stews, salads, salad dressings etc.

Recently I grated and then dried the zest of a few lemons, then used this as a soup garnish. Perhaps my taste buds are limited because I could hardly taste any flavour even before sprinkling onto the bowl of soup. And I had a sense of a texture of tiny bits of irritating dirt. For me this wasn’t a successful outcome and therefore, while I love the idea of not wasting the peel, going to the effort to make zest and then drying it isn’t worth my effort. I imagine that when C reads this post she will add comments and I look forward to reading any – perhaps she might tell me what I have done wrong.