a celebration of Humans, Food, & Culture
CARLA KAMEL & NAGIB MASSAAD
Luci Energy Balls
Captured by The Recipe Hunters in Lebanon
How did Luci Energy Balls begin?
Carla Kamel and Nagib Massaad wanted to go to a music festival in Portugal and were talking about how to manage their limited money. They knew that if they brought food that was high in energy but low in sugar, they would be able to sustain their nutrition for a low cost. By creatively packing their oats, fruits, and nuts together they created a convenient way to eat efficiently and cost-effectively at the music festival in Portugal and stay under budget. That is where Luci Energy Balls began!
Aside from tasting good, why else do you believe in the Luci Energy balls?
We were constantly mixing oats, nuts, and dried fruits together and tried various ways to pack our Energy Balls for the road. Since we work during the day, it is always beneficial to pack good, healthy food that is raw and high in energy. It is very convenient to have a snack that you can carry and that does not weigh you down with an insulin jolt after you eat it. We love extreme sports, snowboarding, hiking, yoga and events like outdoor concerts and festivals so the balls were always a perfect snack to have to share with our friends. Our coworkers and friends fell in love with them and told us we had to try to bring it to the next level. At that point, we began making our energy balls for our friends and family on Friday nights after work. Now we sell our energy balls at Souk El Tayeb Farmers' Market which allows us to share the Luci Energy Balls with the rest of the Beirut Community!”
What is the special ingredient to the Luci Energy Balls?
“We love making the energy balls together. We go to Carla’s mother’s house where we make the energy balls while sharing stories and ideas through food with our families, everyone pitches in! I think that has to do with the energy balls tasting so good, it's because we make them while we are surrounded by the people we love.
We believe that by sharing our Luci Energy Balls with others we are not only providing nourishment but we are connecting to others who have a similar way of life. We share our ideologies through food and our food reflects our ideologies. We always say that "if you don't put thoughts and feelings into your food, it will reflect that way in your final product.”
Why did you call them Luci Energy Balls?
“We have our own words for every spice we use like love, passion, thank you. I work at a bar and I label the salt as love and pepper as feeling. If your thoughts are pure and you put positive energy into something, your products will produce positive energy. There is nothing better than inspiring others through food and providing others with our energy. Luci Energy Balls not only taste good but are jam-packed with Positive Energy!"
Written by The Recipe Hunters: Anthony Morano and Leila Elamine