Edy Massih Opened a Beloved Lebanese Grocer at 25 — Now He’s Sharing Its Recipes

If you’ve got visited Greenpoint in Brooklyn, you’ve got likely heard of Edy’s Grocer, a Lebanese pantry and cafe that stocks its cabinets whole of products imported from throughout the Middle East. Edy Massih, the owner, opened up shop in 2020, when he was just 25 a long time old. These times, Massih is getting ready for the Might 21 launch of his cookbook, “Preserve It Zesty,” which aspects recipes from his grocer and catering small business, as properly as delves into his childhood rising up in Anfeh, Lebanon his journey coming out as queer and what it was like to open up up shop.

“I am nonetheless studying and increasing each individual working day, but what I know for confident is that the power of food stuff and cooking provides a deeper awareness, link, and expression of the particular person I’ve always been,” Massih writes in the book’s introduction.

For Arab American Heritage Thirty day period, PS spoke to Massih about the universal language of foods, his intersectional identities, and, of course, his beloved recipe from the guide.

Examine it all below.

On Why Edy’s Grocer Suggests So A great deal to Him

Edy Massih: Why I enjoy the get the job done is that we have turn out to be relatively of a staple for the community in this article and our neighborhood. I imagine there are so many individuals who occur into the grocer and get teary-eyed simply because they’re from Lebanon and they haven’t noticed this variety of food or grocery objects that we have and they’re just so fired up — that is a actually massive section of it.

The messages I get on the internet also actually indicate a great deal to me. It is really a good deal of folks from Michigan or Texas who haven’t even been to the grocer but they just imagine my presence on the web and what we are performing is seriously vital. And exterior of that, at catering gatherings, there are so many people who are like, “I have been subsequent you for a lengthy time.” Really heading to people’s houses and going to activities and persons recognizing me or my perform, that’s what genuinely makes it so worthwhile.

When we were being initial opening, it was so significantly operate to open up a grocer at the age of 25 also not understanding what the hell I was performing. But in the center of painting and executing so substantially things, Aug. 4 transpired in Lebanon, which was the significant explosion in Beirut. So that early morning, I woke up and noticed the news and certainly could not get myself out of mattress — I was just checking in with my spouse and children, but also my coronary heart was there and I failed to know how to fork out attention to what was taking place in this article. I don’t forget going into the retail outlet to preserve on doing work simply because we were 10 days from opening our doors, and this neighbor — I really don’t even know their title — came in and she experienced red, white, and inexperienced bouquets for me and this gorgeous be aware prepared out for me that’s in my safe and sound, basically. It stated one thing like, “We know what you happen to be performing for your individuals, and we’re so joyful you happen to be executing this, retain heading, we can not hold out for the opening.” I consider I maintain that in the back of my mind, mainly because even on your lowest days, there are still men and women who are psyched about what you might be performing.

On the Common Language of Food items

EM: If you never know a language, you know the food stuff language. Foods speaks 1,000 words on its have. If you can’t go someplace and visit it, the closest thing to it is the food items. You may well not be equipped to speak Arabic or you may possibly not be able to make it to Lebanon at any time, but I believe the closest thing to it is possessing the meals or an encounter all over the food stuff. Lebanon or the Middle East in standard is demonstrated as this war-torn earth, and I believe the way to take the light away from that is as a result of mouth watering, lovely foods. I believe men and women then forget about what the news and Television set has brainwashed them to think is this terrible position.

On Why It truly is Important to Share His Queer Id With Others

EM: I imagine that a ton of queer or homosexual Middle Jap men and women are pretty shy to be open up about that, and I went by means of so much in my daily life to establish with who I am definitely that I feel like I have to have to set it out there. It is really pretty much to establish it to myself but to no person else. It is these kinds of a massive layer of who I am as a human currently being that I imagine if it is not aspect of my tale, then it just isn’t my tale.

Coming out to my friends and to my family was these a significant battle and this sort of a huge aspect of my daily life, and being bullied for so numerous several years till that moment of recognizing what it was to be homosexual and currently being ok with it internally before telling persons about it — I believe there is certainly just so quite a few levels to it that I felt like, it is element of my id. I’m Lebanese, I am a chef, but I am also homosexual. All those three are these types of a huge aspect of who I am, so I assume it experienced to be section of my story in the e book and also just portion of the total reserve alone.

I know so quite a few boys from my hometown, Anfeh, in Lebanon, who are homosexual but are closeted and are married now and have young children. I feel back again to that, and I’m like, if I stayed in Lebanon and I stayed in Anfeh and I stayed in which I was and my mother and father did not make us move listed here, I would be that boy as effectively. I would in all probability be married by now with two children, taking in excess of my dad’s organization. I imagine I owe it to my young self to be very pleased of exactly where I am these days. It can be extra about that up coming era that is both pursuing me or searching up to me, whether they are in Lebanon or they are in the US and closeted — it is to give them the bravery of like, if I can do it, you can do it.

On His Favorite Recipe From the E-book

EM: I am not a dessert person in any way — like I am definitely not — I will skip dessert anytime. I’m also not a baker in anyway. But I will say that the labneh mousse in the guide is my complete preferred recipe, for the reason that it was one of people recipes that I genuinely place a good deal of time and exertion into coming up with. It was intended to be a labneh ice product recipe, and it just retained failing for the reason that I would freeze it and the labneh would have far too a great deal body fat material for it to freeze the right way, so it was freezing like ice. So I designed it into a labneh mousse.

I have been building it now for a minimal little bit, and at any time anybody has it, they are like, “Oh my god, this is incredible.” We just opened up for supper support in February, so we have been serving it as a dessert, as a labneh mousse sundae. It can be been one particular of our bestsellers. It is really so great mainly because it truly is sweet but tangy and salty at the very same time, and that is what I normally seem for in a dessert. And it can be so freaking basic, it really is the simplest factor to make, and you can include any toppings that you want in it.