Professor Butter Beard and the Relocation of the Temple of Ramesses II
“Don’t throw the past away.
You might need it some rainy day.
Dreams can come true again,
When everything old is new again.”
- Songwriters: Peter W. Allen and Carole Bayer Sager
On this rare lazy morning, Nellie and I each nestled into our comfort poses on the sofa. WQXR “New Standards” lulled us both into a mood and I gingerly opened my Gramma Mac’s collection of hand-written recipes. Cordie’s Coconut Holiday Cake. Pecan Melt-a-Ways. Bacon Yum Yums. Ham Puffs. While Mr. Sinatra crooned, my “tour of dreams” lingered on her Potato Chip Cookies. Even saying it out loud brought Nellie’s ears to standing attention. I read through the six ingredients – one pound of butter or oleo, one cup sugar, flour, vanilla, pecans and a “small bag of potato chips” – and thought it might be interesting to appreciate the core value and add my own twists while dancing through a delicious make-over.
Earlier this week, I had swept my mind away from work tsunamis by submerging into a tour of my favorite Egyptian temples. I lingered over photographs of Abu Simbel and remembered that beginning in 1964, an entire king’s temple had been meticulously dissembled, lovingly restored and painstakingly rebuilt safely on higher ground.
The construction of the Aswan Dam was one of the most important civil engineering projects carried out in Egypt and the world during the twentieth century. The dam’s construction created a huge artificial lake in the lower region of Nubia, flooding territories occupied not only by several towns and small cities but also ancient relics of both Ancient Egypt as well as the Kingdom of Kush and several other cultures of the Nile Valley.
The Temple of Ramesses II was in danger of being forever submerged within the dark waters of Lake Nasser. Built into the sandstone at Abu Simbel on the west bank of the Nile, the temple powerfully marked the king’s claim to the land of Kush in Lower Nubia. Four huge seated statues of the king, almost 70 feet high, flank the doorway, dwarfing any approaching visitor. Between the statues’ legs, each member of the royal family observes the constant flow of the Nile, and Amun, shown as falcon-headed god crowned by a sun disk, forever guards the main entrance.
In total, 40 technicians, supervised by more than 2000 archaeologists and Egyptologists were required to remove the temples, shrines and 22 monuments from their original site to an elevated area above the maximum water level projected for the new lake created by the dam. In addition, a colossal concrete dome had to be built, which was then covered with the original stone of the structure in order to re-build and house the interior rooms of the main temple. The original façade was then replaced, respecting even the smallest of details.
Abu Simbel's move ended up costing more than $40 million dollars in 1964 (close to $400 million dollars today) of which half was contributed by the Egyptian government. Due to international cooperation, something both unprecedented and astonishing took place. Egypt allowed a temporary exhibition of thirty-four archaeological treasures rescued from the tomb of Tutankhamun to tour major museums in order to raise funds to finish the reconstruction of Abu Simbel and finance other UNESCO projects around the world.
In comparison, my reconstruction of Gramma’s cookies probably cost $7.50. I pulled back a wee bit on the butter but added intense flavor by browning both the butter and the rolled oats (added to make you feel a bit better when having your third cookie). I used a kettle-fried chip but create your own make-over with chips of your own choice. Don’t overmix the dough – you want to experience a potato chip crunch. And don’t skip the extra sparkle of kosher salt on the still-warm cookies. The resulting sweet-and-salty dance is exquisite.
Lesson learned. There is never a need to throw the past away, since everything old can be new again.
Butter Beard’s Potato Chip Cookies
Four dozen cookies
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned and slightly cooled
1 cup rolled oats, toasted and cooled
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla paste
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp chipotle pepper
3 cups potato chips (I use Kettle Chips – thin and extra crispy)
Kosher salt – to sprinkle on the cookies when they come out of the oven
1) In a non-stick skillet, heat the butter over medium high heat until it stops foaming and has developed a nutty aroma. Pour the hot butter into a glass measuring cup to slightly cool.
2) Wipe out the skillet and toast the rolled oats until just starting to brown and smelling nutty. Pour onto a small sheet pan to cool.
3) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line four baking sheets with parchment.
4) Once the browned butter has slightly cooled, cream it together with the two sugars on high in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix for at least five minutes.
5) While the butter is creaming, whisk together the flour, sea salt, baking powder and chipotle pepper.
6) Once the butter and sugar are creamed, lower the mixer speed to medium and add in the vanilla and then the eggs – one at a time.
7) Turn the mixer on low and add in the cooled rolled oats and then the dry mix.
8) Turn off the mixer and pour in the potato chips. Turn the mixer on low and stir together just until the chips break into the dough. This will only take 30 second or so.
9) Use a one-tablespoon scoop to portion twelve cookies per sheet pan. Lightly spray the bottom of a drinking glass with baking spray and slightly flatten each cookie.
10) Bake the cookies, two trays at a time, for 10-11 minutes until the edges are just beginning to brown and the top has cracked. Rotate the trays halfway through the baking.
11) The moment the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle the top of each cookie with a dusting of coarse kosher salt. Let them cool five minutes on the baking trays and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
