Joseba Arguiñano's tips for cooking with citrus fruits

Joseba Arguiñano gives you some practical tips to get the most out of citrus fruits and ensure they never ruin a dish.

Citrus fruits are one of the most used ingredients in cooking, because they provide a unique aroma and flavor, but do you know how to use them correctly?

If you do it wrong, instead of adding a special touch to your dishes, it could ruin them. That's why Joseba Arguiñano has some basic tips to get the most out of them and make them an indispensable ingredient in your kitchen.

First, Joseba offers a basic tip that's often forgotten: "Always clean them very well," he advises. This step is especially important if you're going to use the peel to season a dish.

To do this, rinse it with cold water. Rub it with your hands to remove surface dirt or with a soft-bristled brush, preferably one designed for fruits and vegetables, if it has more residue.

Dry the lemon with a clean cloth or paper towel to avoid leaving any moisture.

And to ensure that the lemon or orange zest adds the right flavor and aroma to your desserts or savory dishes, Joseba offers this foolproof tip: 'never include the white pith!' If you do, the zest will make your recipes bitter instead of giving them the fresh touch you're looking for.

And how do you avoid getting the white part of the peel on it? Very easy! Never grate and grate nonstop.

'The most important thing is to keep turning the citrus fruit as you grate it,' explains Joseba Arguiñano.

Lemon and orange are used a lot in desserts, such as this lemon charlotte, a lemon sorbet with txakoli wine, this lemon cream with meringue, or classic orange doughnuts.

But as Joseba points out, you can use it with many other foods to 'enhance the flavor and give a special touch'. Joseba gives the example of chicken, with which you can make Chinese-style lemon chicken or even lemon chicken soup, and pork, with which you can prepare a Moroccan-style dish like this pork rib with lemon sauce.

You can also use them with other meats like this lemon rabbit or lemon turkey thighs, and even with fish, as in this recipe for lemon John Dory fillets.