Although very little of what happens in the Hamptons escapes being news, the dunes and bluffs and potato fields manage to hold a few secrets. One of the best kept of these involves the formula for the stuff Frank Tillotson slathered on his ducks as they turned on their spits.
The recipe, entrusted to Mr. Tillotson’s successors, “Loaves and Fishes,” continues to garner fame for the small white store at the Sagaponack blinker. Every summer, hundreds of us gladly pay 50 percent over the retail price of a duck to have it cooked “au Tillotson.”
Several years ago, the sauce, not the recipe was leaked to me. It was a very small leak, about a tablespoonful. My only information was that it required refrigeration. I rushed it home. After careful analysis I could only conclude that it was a sort of mayonnaise mixture heavily seasoned with thyme.
Healthy Dose
A batch of blender mayo, turned olive drab from a healthy dose of dried thyme and brushed on a broiling chicken, produced a distinctly Tillotson taste. This was all very interesting but for some reason, I made only mental note of it. Perhaps I could not quite accept the concept of basting a duck with mayonnaise.
Two weeks ago, however, an article in the Times about barbecuing chickens included a recipe for “Cornell Barbecue Sauce.” (Any recipe entitled “Cornell” evokes visions of lab-coated home economists creating sensible, nutritious, economical, tasty but unexciting food.) A close look at the ingredients in the sauce jogged my memory. “One cup of cooking oil.” “One egg.” Mayonnaise! My suspicions about Tillotson’s secret sauce confirmed?
Guided by a somewhat less than Proustian recollection of that spoonful years ago, I came up with the following formula. It is strong stuff but I found that it has to be in order to transfer its flavor to the duck. It works well on barbecued or broiled chicken parts or roast duck but better on either ducks or chickens turning on a spit.
Mayonnaise Barbecue Sauce
1 egg
1 cup cooking oil
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Place egg in blender jar and blend for a few seconds. Continue blending as you pour in oil in a thin stream. By the time you have added about two-thirds of the oil, the mixture will be quite thick.
Stop the blender and stir in the vinegar. Then blend in the remaining oil. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Keep refrigerated.
Makes one cup, enough for about four ducks. Brush the sauce evenly but not thickly on the duck or chicken and baste with more sauce from time to time during cooking.
