"I'm honestly so bored of the, 'Oh my mother's potato kugel was as hard as a rock,' jokes that people make to sort of dismiss the entire category of Jewish food. That's not because potato kugel is inherently bad, it's because your mom didn't make a good one. Taken from a global perspective, Jewish cuisine—which can mean everything from knishes and brisket to smoky, charred eggplant and fried artichokes—is incredibly vibrant and adaptable," says Leah Koenig, the author of Modern Jewish Cooking.