David Rosengarten is a superb chef, a brilliant taster, an entertaining writer, and an inspirational teacher. He is best known for his popular TV programs on The Food Network, where he hosted about 2,500 shows in the 1990s.

I met him in Ithaca, New York, where he was working in a wine shop and I was writing about wine and teaching wine part time at Cornell. I hadn't seen him for several years until one day I got an email from him. He was coming to Chicago to conduct a spectacular gourmet dinner for the benefit of Share Our Strength, an important charity that fights hunger. He wanted to taste the best Chicago Hot Dogs and wanted me to help him find them. The next morning we started at 7 a.m. and hit four classics stands by noon (yes, there are hot dog stands open at 7 a.m. in Chicago). By 2 p.m. he was on a plane back home to NYC so he could do a tasting of duck breasts for his superb newsletter on food, wine, and travel, The Rosengarten Report. On our drive around town I asked him what he prefered to drink with ribs and without hesitation he said "lemonade" and that he had a great recipe. Here it is.

Yield. Makes 1 large pitcher of lemonade, enough for 6-7 people to get a good drink.
Preparation time. 1-2 hours

Ingredients
5 large lemons, well washed
3/4 to 1 cup of granulated sugar, according to taste
3 cups water
4 cups ice cubes

Do this
1) Roll the lemons with your palm on the counter to soften them. Cut off their ends. Cut each lemon in half at the equator, and squeeze out the lemon juice in a juicer. You should have about 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice per lemon.

2) Place the squeezed lemon halves, and the lemon juice, in a large pitcher (one that holds 9-10 cups is perfect). Sprinkle lemon with the sugar, and stir the sugar in well with a wooden spoon. Bruise and muddle the lemon halves just a bit as you stir.

3) Add the three cups of water, and stir vigorously to blend. Taste for sweetness. Add a little more sugar if you think it's necessary. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

4) When ready to serve, stir the lemonade, and fill the pitcher up with ice cubes (four cups should be just about right). Stir again, and serve immediately.

This page revised 3/10/07