One of the most effortless pastimes is visually-cued memory.  Out of nowhere you see something that reminds you of something and you are off to the races.  Or you hear something.  Whether the trigger is visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory–or any combination of those–if you have the fortune of a stock of pleasant memories then something may take you to the kind of place linked in the image above.

I had such an event today. A young man, visiting Kerala with his family, was telling me about his work experience moving station to station in the kitchen of this restaurant.  It was an impressive story.  Amie and I had a meal there in 2002, a year before we moved to live in Paris.  The story I heard from this chef-in-training did not remind me of our meal, per se, nor even of the time when we lived in Paris.  It brought to mind the accumulated respect I have for all chefs in training, in famous kitchens or otherwise, because of the rigor required to stay committed to the craft, let alone to succeed long term.