Which is why, all agricultural improvements aside, the taste memory of anyone over 30 cannot be satisfied by Greenmarkets alone.

"I've referenced the taste memory of my grandfather's sausages all my life," he says.

He paused, and I could practically hear him reliving the taste memory.

The cooking staff must develop a collective "taste memory," she said in a recent speech, if signature dishes are to keep their particular flavor.

"You have this taste memory of when you were a kid going to a barbecue," Mr. McGrath said.

This rapid learning led others to the idea that rats have biological dispositions for learning to associate sickness with a taste memory as a result of its evolutionary history.

The real taste memory is of the Sokol Blosser 1994 pinot noir ($39).

Croque-monsieur, with melted cheese and crusty bread, was a taste memory of Paris.

Unlike its soy relative tofu, miso alone leaves a rather distinct imprint on the taste memory: this is intense, salty stuff.

Mr. Barber had one cooked for me in chicken stock and my taste memory was confirmed: tender and moist with all the deliciousness of a just-laid egg.