Barbecue-Baked Oysters

The quantities given are per oyster, which makes this easy to scale but easy to misread. Buy the largest oysters you can find in the shell, since small ones will be swamped by the sauce and overcooked before the bacon colours.

• Per-oyster measuresEach oyster gets 1 teaspoon chopped pickle, 1 teaspoon chili sauce, 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire and "a small piece of butter," which is left to the cook's judgement. Twelve oysters therefore need about 1/4 cup each of pickle and chili sauce.
• Chili sauceThis is the old American bottled tomato chili sauce, a chunky ketchup relative with vinegar and sweet spice, not an Asian hot sauce. Ketchup with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of allspice is a fair stand-in.
• Moderate ovenThe recipe gives no temperature; "moderate" in this period generally means somewhere around 350-375F. If the bacon has not browned by the time the oyster edges have ruffled, finish the shells under the broiler for a minute rather than leaving them in longer.
• Fifteen minutes is the outside limitOysters firm up within two or three minutes of real heat; the time here is set by the bacon, not the shellfish. Use thin-sliced bacon, or partly render thicker slices in a pan first, and pull the shells as soon as the fat has crisped.
• The deep shell mattersThe instruction to use the deep half is the hinge of the dish. It holds the butter and sauce against the oyster instead of letting it run out onto the pan.
• Steadying the shellsSet the shells in a bed of coarse salt or crumpled foil in a shallow pan so they sit level and nothing spills. Rock salt also helps the shells hold heat on the way to the table.
• Shucking and the liquorDrain the oysters over a bowl and keep the liquor, as directed, for chowder or a sauce. Rinse any shell grit from the deep shells before filling.
• YieldAllow six per person as a first course, or a dozen as a main. They are eaten straight from the shell, hot, with bread to catch the sauce.