If you are familiar with Jewish cooking mainly from delicatessen menus, you may have the impression that latkes are sautéed potato pancakes and sweet kugels are baked noodle puddings. Yet these specialties are only two popular examples of their genre.

For a long time I didn't realize the connection between the two preparations. Then one Hanukkah, I was visiting my mother in Jerusalem and we had just made some potato latke mixture; she suggested that we prepare a kugel instead. When she saw my surprise, she explained that the difference between latkes and kugels is simply in the cooking method. She proceeded to fry the mixture as if it were a big latke, and it was delicious.

Usually my mother baked her kugels in the oven, but pan-frying potato kugels is an old tradition in some Jewish communities. The Jews of Alsace, France, for example, sautéed their potato kugels on the stovetop the same way my Polish-born mother did, shaping the mixture in a round that was the size of the skillet.

Kugels of all sorts can be prepared this way. According to "The Taste of Shabbos," by Aish Hatorah Women's Organization, "kugel recipes run the gamut from sweet to salty, soft to crisp, bland to sharp. They may be baked in the oven or pan-fried on the range."

Similarly, latkes can be made from all sorts of ingredients, even pasta. There are noodle latkes made like kugel, from cooked noodles mixed with eggs, oil or butter and seasoning, and pan-fried as patties. You could say kugels and latkes are two sides of the same coin.

Both kugels and latkes are made from either raw vegetables, which are grated, or cooked vegetables, which are chopped, mashed or puréed. Grated potatoes are used to make both classic potato latkes and time-honored potato kugel, but mashed potatoes makes delicious kugels, too, if you prefer a soft, creamy texture instead of a crisp-crusted potato preparation. Grating is most practical for making latkes and kugels from zucchini and from root vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and onions. Cooking and chopping works well for those vegetables, too, as well as for cauliflower, broccoli and spinach.

Potato latke batter can be baked as kugel, too; with other ingredients, the batter's texture varies, depending on how you intend to cook it. You can bake a soft batter as a kugel, but for latkes you need a stiffer mixture, with fewer eggs or more flour, bread crumbs or matzo meal so the pancakes will hold together.

Faye Levy is the author of "1,000 Jewish Recipes" and of "Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home."