My husband and I (and pretty much everybody else who has seen the show) are great fans of The Great British Baking Show.
But we have both noticed one thing.
What is up with the Brits and zest?
(For those non-bakers, zest is made by grating the rind off of citrus fruit – orange zest, lemon zest, etc.)
Us folks from the good old US of A use the fruit and the juice to get a fruit flavor in our baked goods – and sometimes just a hint of zest is added.
The reason we only use a hint of zest is because it is bitter nasty stuff. Go ahead, take a nibble off the rind of an orange or lemon and tell me what you think.
Gack. Right?
(And don’t forget the extra dabs of blood from accidentally grating a knuckle or two.)
So why, oh why, do so many of the GBB contestants spend so much time denuding their citrus?
And what happens to all that denuded fruit?
And even though they dump in literally mounds of this bitter stuff, the judges just smack their lips and say, yum, great flavor!
WTSF?
Anyone know any baking Brits you can ask?
Thoughts from a Fat Old Lady 
Thank you! Have wondered for YEARS what the hell they do with all that zestless fruit – make
marmalade? Had a very close friend for 50+ years (now gone to that great Green Room in
the sky, waiting for his cue) who was oh, so English – I swear Higgins on the riginal “Magnum,
PI” was modeled after him – & he loved that slightly tangy flavour you get with zest – things
either had to be insanely sweet or barely so (think of scones) to satisfy the British tastebuds.
It’s like butter with the French – yes, it’s delicious, but you can only stomach so much of it per
mouthful. I just want to make a perfect Victoria sponge with the nice jam filling & I’ll be happy.
I have yet to venture into the art of baking a sponge from scratch or any of the other types. I certainly don’t make jam from scratch (although I am tempted to try – but then the restaurant down the road from us has the best raspberry jam (homemade), so why bother?). I am getting more tempted to buy myself a zester and an orange next time a recipe calls for it. And then, by God (TIDBI) I’m gonna eat that orange!