Much of the time our memories are created through our sensory experiences of the word and none more so than through our sense of taste. Travel expanded my palate immensely and traveling with friends and sharing their experiences of food was especially eyeopening. I had just moved to London and had arranged to meet up with my Brisbane friend Rhylla in Piccadilly Circus to hear all about her time travelling in Italy. So besotted with her time there, she insisted on catching up in a little Italian restaurant in the back streets of the West End. Down some stairs below street level and through an arched entrance, we sat at a small table, and I soaked up all she had to share of her adventures in Bella Italia. When we’d finished our meal, the waiter offered us dessert, letting us know he had a special on the menu…panettone. I’d never heard of it before and both Rhylla and the waiter, surprised, insisted I must try it. Well, I tried, and I loved it and to this day, panettone has become one of my favourite flavours and annual Christmas treats - from Christmas with Freya and Divina in Istanbul to Christmas lunch with Lorenzo in Harry’s Bar Venice, sharing part of the ginormous panettone served for desert covered in brandy custard.