The main component of the fruit is its thick white peel, which adheres to the flesh segments and cannot be easily separated from them. It is the peel (the thicker, the better) that is used for culinary purposes.
Peel is cut into pieces and cooked in sugar syrup. In this form, it can be treated as so-called spoon sweets (sweet preparations served on a spoon, as a gesture of hospitality in Albania, Greece, Kosovo, Cyprus, the Balkans, parts of the Middle East and Russia.
It can also be used to prepare candied peel as an addition to cakes. In Italy, citron fruit is used to make a soft drink called Cedrata, and in Samoa, a refreshing drink called "vai tipolo" is made from squeezed juice.
