The art of simmering memories

I love that passage when Jean-Dominique describes his favorite food memories:

"Depending on my mood, I treat myself to a dozen snails, a plate of Alsatian sausage with sauerkraut, and a bottle of late-vintage golden Gewurztraminer; or else I savor a simple soft-boiled egg with fingers of toast and lightly salted butter. What a banquet! The yolk flows warmly over my palate and down my throat. And indigestion is never a problem."

(Ahh, now I'm getting hungry ... )

What's your favorite food memory(ies)? I'll go first, if you like:

Eating ice cream for the first time

I actually don't remember this, but my mom apparently does. She said I was a toddler at the time and went into a state of pure ecstasy, eyes closing and mouth opening for more. Hee hee...

Eugenie

What did you think of Eugenie? I liked her, especially from Jean-Dominique's description.

"...a strange euphoria came over me. Not only was I exiled, paralyzed, mute, half deaf, deprived of all pleasures, and reduced to the existence of a jellyfish, but I was also horrible to behold.

"There comes a time when the heaping up of calamities brings on uncontrollable nervous laughter - when, after a final blow from fate, we decide to treat it all as a joke. My jovial cackling at first disconcerted Eugenie, until she herself was infected by my mirth. We laughed until we cried."

Have you ever had a similar experience? I know at the end of a really bad day, I do indeed start laughing - though I've never had as bad a day as Jean-Dominique must have had.

'Locked in' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

"My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court."

What were your overall thoughts and impressions of the book? Was it what you expected, or different? If different, in what ways? Or if the same, what exactly was it that you were expecting?

New pick

"The Aspern Papers" by Henry James

Set in a brilliantly described Venice, James's 1888 novella portrays an editor's obsession with acquiring the private papers of a dead poet from the man's lover.