EVERY now and then, certain ingredients, flavours or combinations will catch my fancy.

I have been totally distracted by balsamic vinegar, dallied with dates, loved lemongrass and I have been in an enduring, intense, passionate relationship with chillies and garlic for the longest time!

And now it is Zest that is adding, well Zest to my life! Thanks to a little magic wand that looks like a retarded back scratcher!

And ever since I first used it, I keep asking myself why I didn't invest in one earlier!

It could have something to do with the fact that Indian cuisine just has not tapped the potential of citrus zest. I just did not see the point. Untill I scraped my knuckles a few weeks ago trying to harvest the zest from a few nimboos for a Lemon Olive oil cake recipe from the book One Perfect Ingredient by Marcus Wareing.

The cake turned out deliciously and seeing as I was planning on adding it to my regular repertoire I thought a Lemon Zester would be prudent if only so I didn't end up looking like a boxer.

You'd think, taking into account the sheer amount of time we have been squeezing them for their juice (limes originated in the Assam region of India) we'd have discovered their most aromatic attribute – the skin – but no we relegate them to the soap dish to sparkle vessels with or just throw them out!

Photograph: stock.Xchng