photo taken by Olga Massov, on October 27, 2008, CC licensing

As current economic shock waves trip an ancient collective memory of the lean wolf, huffing and puffing with winter's breath outside our door, we inevitably turn to starches.

This is not the time for tiramisu and airy mousses. You can't drown financial bitters with a sweet.

photo taken by Olga Massov, on November 28, 2008, CC licensing

Casale Monferrato, a town deep in the wine country of Piedmont, Italy, made our Hanukkah latkes sing.

It wasn't the recipes from the slim cookbook of the community's Jews. Nor did we buy a local ingredient there, like truffles, that would make our latkes stand out.

photo taken by Angélica Portales, on November 16, 2008, CC licensing

Our second Lost and Found Recipes column features an open pastry with an oniony meat filling, requested by Joyce Stiler, chicken fricassee with meatballs, requested by Eileen Stone, and from Dorothy Zachmann, a fragrant jam made from rose petals.

photo taken by Manfreg Morgner, on August 12, 2010, CC licensing

At the crossroads of Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Eastern Europe, Czech-Jewish cooks shared many of their neighbors' recipes and ingredients.

photo taken by kthread, on December 17, 2008, CC licensing

Add just a smidgen of sugar to tea or coffee-even the darkest Turkish brew-and it then becomes undrinkable to me. I find sweetened sodas, candies, and most desserts thoroughly unappealing. But a light sprinkle of sugar melting into a hot, oniony potato latke? That's the way my grandmother served it, and it still tastes like heaven to me.

photo taken by vidalia_11, on October 26, 2006, CC licencing

A Parisian-Jewish caterer once described to me his favorite T-shirt, seen on a beach in Eilat, Israel. There was a smiling beige fish, stippled with schmears of purple-red, the exact color of beet-horseradish. Underneath, in bold black letters it implored: "Save the Gefilte Fish."

photo taken by famfriendsfood, on March 27, 2013, CC licensing

photo taken by Eliza Adam, on December 1, 2010, CC licensing

photo taken by Joshua Bousel, on April 1, 2007, CC licensing

When I look at a map, I always feel that the most remote part of Poland is that little triangle of territory in the far southeast of the country that forms a wedge between Ukraine and Slovakia. It's not really that far away -- just a three or four hour drive from Krakow. But it's a fascinating part of the world at the gateway to the Carpathian mountains, a region of lush hills, rushing streams and all the bucolic beauty that goes with it, combined with a complex and often cruel history of war, strife and ethnic cleansing.