I BOUGHT Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl’s book KOTO last week. The coffee table cook book is full of yummy Vietnamese dishes and raises funds for a hospitality training school by the same name. The book is a reminder of time I spent in Hanoi, of the school, the restaurant and its trainees. I volunteered at an English-language business and tourism magazine where I met fellow staffer Ong Hugh and his wife Ba Deborah. Hugh and Deborah now live near me and I saw them on Sunday. I dropped in on Hugh at home and saw Deborah down the road where she was selling knitted wraps and Indochinese textiles at a village market. I’ve sat with this beautiful couple, drinking tea and chatting, while Deborah knitted this piece. It’s a cobweb – so fine and delicate - and that green wool is almost yellow in some light. I’ll wear it and always be reminded of two special people and a small place in time.

PS: Melbourne readers can book in for this event later this month or learn to make Vietnamese dishes featured in the book here.