Israeli food today is a vibe. It has a par­tic­u­lar style — lots of herbs, a sub­tle or overt empha­sis on condi­ments, and an embrace of ingre­di­ents and dish­es from across the Dias­po­ra. There is an ener­gy to it: eter­nal­ly opti­mistic, care­free, and seem­ing­ly uncom­pli­cat­ed. And ever since Ottolenghi and Tamimi’s icon­ic Jerusalem (2012), Israeli food has become main­stream in cook­books, social media, and restau­rants around the world. Chefs, restau­ra­teurs, social media influ­encers, and home cooks alike have all flocked to it, embrac­ing the vibe (and a whole lot of tahi­ni). Eden Grin­sh­pan, who hap­pens to be all four of the above, is the author of Tahi­ni Baby, a new cook­book that high­lights the expan­sive veg­e­tar­i­an dish­es found in Israeli kitchens and homes.

Let’s address the ele­phant in the title: Grinshpan’s tahi­ni recipe is great. It’s sim­ple, creamy, and very adapt­able. As a base­line for many dish­es, this condi­ment slaps. And to keep the music metaphor hum­ming, some of the dips, notably the light-as-air-hum­mus and leek masabacha, can be their own foot-stomp­ing solo cours­es or a delight­ful addi­tion to any menu. Masabacha, a rus­tic hum­mus with chunks of chick­peas smoth­ered in tahi­ni, is even rich­er in tex­ture and uma­mi with Grinshpan’s addi­tion of braised leeks, tem­pered by their own sweet­ness and the bright lemon that high­lights the sheer glo­ry of leeks.

The first two chap­ters will help you under­stand how fla­vors are lay­ered into each dish. They are effec­tive­ly a lex­i­con for Tahi­ni Baby: a primer of the sauces, spices, and sea­son­ings used through­out as well as the ​“condi­ments, dips, and all the nosh­es,” with call­outs for spe­cif­ic recipes that rely on them. With this knowl­edge in tow, you will be able to fla­vor any forth­com­ing Israeli meal from an impromp­tu snack to a hol­i­day feast, and every­thing in between.

Every recipe in this book is accom­pa­nied by a pho­to­graph. Beyond inspir­ing your own plat­ed dish­es and social media posts, these pho­tos rein­force Grinshpan’s the­sis that this food is meant to be shared with loved ones. There are many hands (thought­ful­ly placed) every­where, evok­ing the lov­ing act of shar­ing and feed­ing oth­ers, and also remind­ing read­ers that eat­ing Israeli food can be infor­mal and tac­tile. Gin­sh­pan also includes lin­er notes describ­ing these dish­es, shar­ing when she serves them and with what, and also describ­ing the fla­vors in her own effu­sive­ly adver­bial idi­olect. If you like her social media voice (and con­sid­er­ing she has over 400,000 Insta­gram fol­low­ers, I sus­pect you might), then you will appre­ci­ate these tasty descrip­tors and prob­a­bly soon find them sticky-not­ed, tabbed over, and splat­tered with some of your new favorite tahi­ni sauce.