This delight­ful debut cook­book by James Beard – nom­i­nat­ed chef Jere­my Sala­m­on show­cas­es many of the pop­u­lar dish­es at Agi’s Counter — Salamon’s Hun­gar­i­an bistro in Brook­lyn, New York — and a hand­ful of oth­er icon­ic foods from his Jew­ish grand­moth­ers’ tables. The recipes here are bright, fes­tive, and invit­ing. Through warm per­son­al anec­dotes, Sala­m­on describes how his grand­moth­ers and Hun­gar­i­ans today pre­pare a dish, then explains how his ver­sion is sim­pler and a lit­tle more modernized.

These recipes are fun and sur­pris­ing­ly acces­si­ble, and they reflect Salamon’s own culi­nary upbring­ing. By trans­lat­ing the foods of a Hun­gar­i­an Jew­ish past to a twen­ty-first-cen­tu­ry kitchen, Sala­m­on cel­e­brates, bal­ances, and ele­vates Hun­gar­i­an fla­vors. This cook­book serves us schmaltz mayo and roe-topped poached radish­es, as well as Körözött, a South­ern adap­ta­tion of a Hun­gar­i­an papri­ka cheese dip, which goes incred­i­bly well with pogác­sa (Hun­gar­i­an bis­cuits). Please know that these adap­ta­tions are not gim­micks. As Sala­m­on explains, they pro­vide basic dish­es with ​“a lit­tle more care” and greater uma­mi, acid­i­ty, tex­ture, and/​or lightness.

Sec­ond Gen­er­a­tion leans into a par­ty mood by includ­ing rec­om­men­da­tions for plat­ing, sea­son­al­i­ty, and, help­ful­ly, wine pair­ings. The primer on Hun­gar­i­an wine may be rea­son enough to keep this book on your shelf. Going beyond Tokaj (the old­est demar­cat­ed wine region in the world, dat­ing back to 1737), Salamon’s oenophilic intro­duc­tion describes the many his­toric vari­eties and styles of Hun­gar­i­an wine. This brief primer, like Salamon’s com­men­tary on tra­di­tion­al Hun­gar­i­an dish­es (e.g., chick­en paprikash, lec­só, and palac­sin­ta), secures Sec­ond Gen­er­a­tion​’s place in a dynam­ic tra­di­tion — one that is still evolv­ing in our own kitchens.