Smells of cooking food wafted outside Keneseth Beth Israel yesterday afternoon. The aroma of what waited on the other side of the doors whetted the appetite.

When organizers were planning last year’s Jewish Food Festival at Keneseth Beth Israel, they realized they had no one to make stuffed cabbage. “I said, ‘You can’t have a food festival without stuffed cabbage,‘“ recalled Beverley Soble. “I said, ‘Let me see if I can remember my mother’s recipe.‘“

The kitchen of Keneseth Beth Israel was filled with the wonderful aroma of potatoes and onions frying in simmering oil. “You need to eat some latkes,“ said Ilene Paley, presenting a plateful of hot potato cakes, assembled on a paper towel.