In the Israeli style, there is no separation between starter, main course, and dessert: the table is covered with a cloud of small sharing dishes (salatim and mezze), all placed together in the center. You dip pita bread by hand, pick from one bowl after another, and the noisy conviviality around the table matters as much as the food. Sharon, a bon vivant and generous host at the Sycamore Farm, entertained exactly like this: abundance, warm bread, and everyone helps themselves.

Ground sesame turned into a silky paste is the binding soul of this Levantine cuisine: it coats hummus, binds meat in siniya, and perfumes sauces. Bitter and oily at once, thinned with water and lemon, it becomes creamy — it is what marks an authentic Israeli table.