While this cocktail is delicious made with everyday lemons, when the strikingly aromatic Meyer lemons become available in early winter, it’s worth celebrating their deliciousness with a margarita. Until the last decade of the twentieth century, Meyer lemons were mostly ignored and thought to lack viability as a commercial crop—until food luminaries like Alice Waters and Martha Stewart began championing them. They are thought to be a cross between a lemon and an orange. You’ll find that it pays off enormously to use the Meyer lemon in three ways in this drink: infused into tequila, made into simple syrup and squeezed into fresh juice.
Rick Bayless is the author of seven popular cookbooks, including Mexican Everyday and Fiesta at Rick’s. With his wife Deann he owns and operates Chicago’s hugely successful Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and XOCO. Bayless is also the founder of the Frontera Farmer Foundation, an organization that supports small local farmers. His product line of prepared foods is sold coast to coast. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.
