Oysters are perfect for romance. And perfect to eat at home

Most of us indulge our love of oysters at a restaurant, if only because we're daunted by the prospect of buying, shucking and serving the little devils at home.

Ideally, you'll buy your oysters at a seafood market with a high turnover.

Once you get them home, take the oysters out of the bag and store them in the coolest part of the refrigerator with the curved shells face down in a bowl covered with a wet towel.

When the moment has come to shuck the oysters, which should be shortly before you're ready to serve them, pull out your tools: an oyster knife and a thick kitchen towel or two.

[...] here I've provided two others: a Japanese-style ginger wasabi sauce and an American-style cocktail sauce.

To shuck the oysters, start by folding a thick kitchen towel several times.

Use one hand to grasp the oyster in the towel and hold it in place on a cutting board flush with the edge of the counter, which makes it easy to apply downward pressure.

When you finally feel a little give, nudge the knife in further, then push straight down on the knife handle and pry open the top oyster shell just as you would the lid of a can of paint.

If the top shell still doesn't become loose at the hinge, twist the knife a quarter turn so the blade is facing up, and try again to loosen the hinge.

To sever this muscle, insert the blade between the shells, loosen the edges, then slide the knife from one end of the oyster to the other, which should cut the top muscle and detach the top shell.

Combine the bottled horseradish with the remaining ingredients and stir well.

In a small bowl, let the grated horseradish stand for 5 minutes.

Stir in the vinegar and the salt, then add the ketchup, chili sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, to taste.

Nutrition information per tablespoon: 20 calories; 0 calories from fat (0 percent of total calories); 0 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 170 mg sodium; 4 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 0 g protein.

1/2 cup red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, Champagne vinegar or cider vinegar

Nutrition information per tablespoon: 5 calories; 0 calories from fat (0 percent of total calories); 0 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 30 mg sodium; 1 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 0 g protein.

If you have prepared wasabi in a tube, you can substitute that for the powdered mixed with water.

Nutrition information per tablespoon: 25 calories; 0 calories from fat (0 percent of total calories); 0 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 260 mg sodium; 5 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 0 g protein.

Sara Moulton was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years, and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows.