A sauce for oysters from Little Town in New York City.

This one is an essay in reverse engineering; we got a list of ingredients, at least some of them, from the personable shucker at Little Town, but nothing more. These proportions taste about right, which is to say quite good indeed. For some two dozen oysters on the half shell.

-3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
-2 teaspoons Champagne vinegar
-1 teaspoon finely minced jalapeno
-½ teaspoon Colman’s prepared mustard
-1 teaspoon bruised mustard seeds
-¼ teaspoon cayenne
-1½ teaspoons heavy cream

1. Stir together all the ingredients except for the heavy cream.
2. Add the cream, stir the sauce briskly to marry it.
3. Chill it for a couple of hours to boost the flavor and keep your oysters cold.

Notes:

- You need not go all postal on the mustard seed; just a quick bash to release a little extra flavor.

- The cream was not among the ingredients disclosed by our shucker at Little Town, but it made all the difference in both consistency and taste.

- Our version sports a yellower cast than the original, so Little Town does not use Colman’s. Perhaps Dijon; maybe even bland old American hot dog mustard (French’s?). If you use one of these, use more, about ½ a teaspoon, and take a tithe off the vinegar.