2008
Brother Carl's Recipe for Making A Real Gourmet Black Gospel Cake!
English translation of Swedish text in Karleby's Daily Newspaper: Österbottningen tidning
Do you still believe in miracles? Well I just saw one, with my own eyes last week in Runeburg's Concert Hall in Jakobstad.
Maybe this thought here has crossed your mind sometimes: Is there hope for Black Gospel, I mean "real" Black Gospel in Österbotten? The answer is an resounding YES! I heard it last night... Where? Again in Jakobstad! And would you like to get your hands on this "secret" recipe, handed down from generation to generation? Well I am going to spill the beans as we say back home in Dallas (tell you how it is done)...
The first step in this awesome recipe is that you begin with adding some good Black Gospel cake base... For example, The Christian Folk Institute in Nykarlebys' team. Yea... Then mix into that foundation, the Church's Youth Association also from the same city. Ok! Now we are cooking we gas! (another Dallas expression) This is your base for a really unforgettable Black Gospel Cake! To this, you add one spicy and dynamic Mr.Mikael Svarvar as Band Director. Look out! Because with this Svarvar ingredient, you know you are going to taste something out of this world!
To this you add the very shy (NOT!), the Estonian bassist extroadinaire Egon Veevo. The cake would not be the same without this effervescent ingredient. And of course to make your Black Gospel cake really tasty, you HAVE to add a REAL Hammond B-3. By that I mean someone who knows what they are doing... For instance, a super quite young man, with explosive powers in his hands, Martin Store.
Now the Black Gospel Cake is beginning to take form and you know it will taste even better as you add more ingredients! Now you add, with caution, a bit of Gospel hip-shaking, hand clapping, foot stomping drums, throw into the mixture, some rhythm guitar, add to this some slick Gospel horns (gotta have horns if you are to bake a real Black Gospel Cake)... because they are the "icing" on it!...
Then you mix up this concoction real good a slow. No electric mixer please! It must be done by hand, like grandma! Careful! Don't let any of the mixture fall out of the bowl! It is almost ready, but there are still a few more steps before putting it in the hot and waiting Gospel Oven to bake.. You need to throw into the mixture a power-packed choir, something like Jakobs Choir for example. But they don't operate well without their directors... So here comes the Gospel-singing sisters Heidi Storbacka and Rebeka Ekman... Now you begin to smack your lips and your mouth begins to water because you know something good is about to be cooked.
But wait! The mixture is not ready yet! Add to it, a little piece of dynamite, yes, you read right, Dynamite in the form of one Sarah Timonen. Look out people. This woman of God will blow you away! Don't mess with Sarah! She'll ignite your faith... with her annointed singing I mean... Then to add some richly aged flavor and seasoning. Now where can one find this kind of expensive spice? You can get it under the brand name of the one and only Tomas Högland. This guy has got it goin' on as we say back in Dallas. He can make any Black Gospel Cake rise to perfection! You might even call it angel cake when you add a dash of Högland to the mix...
Now let's see, am I forgetting something? Oh yes...for your Gospel Cake to be compact and uniform, throw into the mixture a 200-strong "Black" Gospel Choir from Österbotten! It only takes about two days for these particular ingredients to gel and it can only be purchased in Finland...
Have patience! It ain't ready yet folks. Because you need a very special Black Gospel cooking spatula to give you inspiration to mix this concoction. You can only find this in a far away land where this kind of thing reigns supreme! It namely comes in the form of one Music Pastor, Carl Hall from the Hunter Hill Baptist Church. You can only purchase this specific kind of baking utensil in Atlanta USA! Just the way this brother moves while directing the choir, well YOU KNOW that this cake is REALLY YUMMY! Maybe even better than grandma's cake! (Don't let my grandmother in Heaven hear you say that though...)
Now of course, what good is all of that gourmet sweating in the Gospel kitchen, mixing and heating up a hot Black Gospel Oven, if you cannot serve a piece of it to an appreciative gourmet? And believe me people, the Österbotten gourmets came out in masses to this event! They ate and ate and ate, (me included), and I think we all wanted even one more piece... One can't get enough of a good thing now can they?
But as soon as the whole audience was up and in the groove of the music... just like Elvis did, Carl "left the House" and that was that! I think the brother gave 200% to make that cake rise to perfection! Awesome! For lack of a better word.. What? No more cake? Well not at least until some team decides to bake the next one. Could it be the Karleby folk this time around? As I said, miracles still happen!
I have a feeling however, in my old age, that I will see yet another Black Gospel Cake, baking, somewhere, between, Karleby, Nykarleby, Jakobstad and why not Black Gospel Cake offered to all of Finland?! We deserve to eat well amen?! One extra benefit of eating tons of this cake is that you never get fat. Well ok, it is: "Gospel fat" so it is very low in calories! You know, the good kind of fat! Actually you get better the more you digest!
Yes Lord, I am so glad that many got to experience a bit of what it is really like in a Black church in the States. It is like that every Sunday! There is no such thing as coming in late! Because if you do, you will not have a seat. Black Gospel is joy! And the good news is that you do not have to be black to sing it! Music has no color. Praise the Lord! It is the joy of the Lord that can make any heart sing. We saw Him "in the House", in His House, last night! And the people rejoiced.
We were renewed, encouraged, smiled, laughed, we were, at least for that special time together, united in His Love and everyone left with a smile on their face... Out we went from Runeburg's Concert Hall, back into the black night of winter, onto the slick icing sidewalks and roads to home... But only to dream and wait, for another piece of that oh so good Gospel cake!
Ingemar Byskata and Per Stenberg? Who is this dynamic duo? The Karleby version of Batman and Robin of Gospel? Go figure! It takes two brothers like this to really get the ball rollin'. But they have always loved this particular style of music and we heard and saw the result of what hard work gets you!
Baking this kind of cake is not for the weak! But it was well worth it. We can only imagine what Heaven will be like with singing like this down here... (A little interjection: These two men are really seriously fat from eating way too much Black Gospel Cake!) But we love them anyway, no matter how big they get...
So! Is Black Gospel alive and well in Österbotten? Without question! Is there a future for it with our young folk and young- at -heart? Again, most certainly!
Check out your bookstores. There are fantastic finnish and well as foreign Black Gospel cds and dvds that will help you to keep your little light shining for the whole world to see.
Now how about a piece of cake after reading all of that? Varsågod! Enjoy! You deserve it!
Christian-Charles de Plicque for: Angel House International Missions Ministries r.f.Karleby 11th February 2008 www.deplicque.net (Article available also in Polish, French and Swedish)
Footnote:It is not often we see reviews of such concerts in our papers in Finland. There is information before them usually. But it would be great if those that maybe were not able to attend and event, at least read about the performance, afterwards. With the talent we have in our area of the country, I think they need to be encouraged and applauded for the wonderful work they are doing.)
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