SMITE – Ra’merican Burgers & Lotus Fries

Happy Mesut-Ra, everyone!

Happy what now? – You’re probably thinking. Mesut-Ra means “birth of Ra,” or better known as the Ancient Egyptian opening of the year.

For having been around for a couple of millennia, he’s aged pretty well. You could say he is the ultimate silver fox…er…falcon.

This is why I’d bring up a game called SMITE. This multi-player online arena game allows you to battle for glory in the arena or battlefield as the gods and other immortals from pantheons all around the world including Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Mayan, Norse, and Roman. Whether you feel like putting your enemies on the deep freeze as the frost giant Ymir, or slicing and dicing them into oblivion like Kali, the cast of 78 immortals has someone for everyone.

What I really love about this game is that not only does it strike gold with mythology obsession I’ve had since the age of five, but it also constantly ups the ante with humor and creativity. There is a kawaii cat-girl costume for the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet. The winged Egyptian goddess Isis will perform the chicken dance for her dance emoticon. There’s even a horrifying Easter Bunny version of the rakshasa Bakasura. Then there’s this:

Somebody, please cosplay this at DragonCon!

That’s right, folks. You are looking at Ra in the skin Ra’merica — or “‘MERIC-RA!!” as I prefer to call it. Now it may be coincidence on the game-makers’ part, but it’s actually pretty clever as the falcon-headed god of the sun shares a birth month with our country. The specific day may not be recorded, but it’s still pretty fitting. Heck, I would certainly know with the highs in Atlanta being in the nineties every single day this month!

So to celebrate Ra’Merica’s birthday, I wanted to make up an Ancient Egyptian version of a hamburger and fries. I used ground beef to remind Ra where he came from — his mama the celestial cow goddess Mehet-Weret. Also, American Independence Day without bovine muscle sizzling on the grill is like eating macaroni without cheese — you could do it, but you would be disappointed.

To this, I added a spice rub of cumin, coriander, thyme, and kosher salt — all of which popular in Ancient Egyptian cuisine.

Then I whipped up a risotto of red lentils, sliced leeks, and diced dates. I cooked them in honey and Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy. Being the bringer of the light that grows wheat, beer is also considered sacred to Ra. This beer is a wheat ale with natural lemonade flavor, and it so happens that the first recorded instance of lemonade was found in Egypt in 1000 AD — the fruit believed to have been brought over from Asia around 700 AD. Being that lemonade is considered a staple of summertime in American youth culture, you’re also getting a taste of good old Ra’merican sunshine. You might end up with more risotto than you need in this recipe, but the leftovers are fantastic on salads.

This pile of deliciousness is served open faced on a whole wheat pita and bed of romaine lettuce and then is topped with feta cheese crumbles. Another fun fact: the Egyptians were the first human society known to cultivate lettuce as a culinary ingredient. Though first produced for its seeds to press into oil, this agricultural experiment created the edible softer leaves we see today. Romaine still resembles its 30-inch tall ancestor.

I imagine its next evolution will resemble an Oddish.

Now a burger without fries is just plain heresy, and since it wouldn’t do to blaspheme Ra on his own birthday, I made some with sliced lotus root. The lotus flower, known to close and sink under the water at night, was symbolic of birth and the sun in Ancient Egyptian culture as it would rise and bloom with the dawn. I used a package of presliced and poached root to save some time cooking, and they are usually available in most Asian supermarkets. After deep frying, I then tossed them in some spice rub with toasted sesame seeds.

So fire up the stove top (or grill if you have one), and pop open a bottle of beer. It’s the Ra’merican way.