Jewish

The sauce for these cheese-based latkes, which are great for breakfast, can be made two days ahead. Be sure to serve the pancakes (enough for four people) as soon as they are made.

This traditional spongecake is rippled with cinnamon-sprinkled apples.

One for the nut-lover. A refreshing apple compote is topped with an almond (or hazelnut) sponge. Simple and delicious, it's an ideal Passover dessert.

Residents of Maghreb use semolina to make tiny pasta pellets called kesksu in Arabic. Unlike pasta made with other types of wheat flour, pasta made from semolina does not become mushy during cooking. The old-fashioned way of making these pellets is to mix semolina flour with water, roll the dough into tiny balls, sift it over a medium-meshed wire sieve to remove any excess flour, then steam the final product over boiling water or a stew. Instant couscous, available at most supermarkets, is prepared by adding boiling water. Although not as fluffy as the classic type, it is more than acceptable for seffa and easy to prepare. Israelis make a larger form of couscous, which is lightly toasted; do not substitute for the regular type. In the Maghreb, couscous is both everyday fare—served in most households, both rich and poor, several times a week—and a food for special occasions. It is most commonly used as the base for flavorful meat, poultry, fish, or vegetable stews. For special occasions, however, it is sweetened and topped with dried fruits and nuts. Seffa is also made by mounding couscous on a platter and sprinkling sugar on top instead of stirring it. Seffa with dried fruits is a traditional Moroccan Hanukkah dish. For Rosh Hashannah, it is sprinkled with pomegranate seeds or small grapes. On Tu b'Shevat and other special occasions, it is garnished with datils rellenos (stuffed dates) and dried fruit. Moroccans prefer desserts rich and sugar, and their seffa is generally sweeter than Tunisian versions.

Carrots, parsnips, green onions and dill make the difference in these colorful pancakes. Mix some chopped dill and green onions into sour cream to pass alongside.

The primary difference between this kugel recipe and the traditional is its use of dairy, which would make it inappropriate at a meal with meat on the menu for those who observe kosher dietary laws.

The failure-proof cookie-like crust can be prepared ahead. Use any leftover dough to make a few cookies.

A spice cake that's great with coffee.

In my family we always inaugurate the Jewish New Year with our first apple dessert of the fall season. The tradition in Andra's home is to begin the year with a round challah and to end it with a cake topped with concentric circles of sliced apples. This dessert is very similar to Jewish apple cake, a Polish dessert that was very popular in church cookbooks throughout Maryland. I believe it is called Jewish because it is an oil-based rather than a butter-based cake. Andra's version is particularly easy, attractive, and delicious.

"One thing I cannot get out of my head" said Ben Moskovitz, owner of Star Bakery in Oak Park, Michigan. "Was the food better growing up in Czechoslovakia or were the people hungrier there? My mother made a honey cake for the holiday, and it was so delicious. Honey was too expensive for us, so my mother burned the sugar to make it brown. Here I use pure honey, but I still think my mother's cake was better and I know I am wrong. The taste of hers is still in my mouth." Mr. Moskovitz's European honey cake follows, with a few of my American additions. Other European Jewish bakers interviewed for this book also bake with white rye flour and cake flour when we would use all-purpose flour. I have included both choices.

My reason for disliking this dish as a child was more about what it lacked than what it delivered — it wasn't savory enough to be lasagna or sweet enough for dessert, so why bother eating it? I do, however, remember the first few times I watched my mother prepare kugel — the thrill of all those noodles, and the seductive smell of cinnamon and butter as it baked, which only set the stage for my letdown when I tasted this bland noodle square on my plate.

Works well as part of a vegetarian meal or as an accompaniment to meat or fowl.

Perfect for the Jewish holiday, this flourless torte has an airy soufflé-like texture. The sauce adds a special-occasion touch.

This recipe is a variation on the classic Jewish honey cake, which is traditionally eaten at joyful celebrations such as betrothals, weddings, and the New Year, when it symbolizes the hope that the future will be sweet.

Food writer Adam Rapoport fried these latkes in a combination of vegetable oil and schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), a tactic that apparently gave him the edge over the competition in the James Beard Foundation's Fourth Annual Latke Cook-Off. He won both the People's Choice and the Amateur awards. This recipe has two things going for it, shared by most really good recipes: it's tried and true, and it came from someone's mother, in this case, Rapoport's mom, Maxine.

What to drink: Georg Breuer 1999 Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Rüdesheim Berg Rottland.

Gremolata, a mix of finely chopped lemon zest, parsley, and garlic, is an Italian topping classically served with osso buco. We added some basil to make it even livelier.

Abe experimented until he came up with the lightest, fluffiest, most Jewish-motherly matzo balls imaginable.