Our guest today: Pekka Kuusisto

Somebody being chased by a wolf. Ominous clouds. Dread, doom and damnation. That is what I think when I hear violin music. So when Helen invited the Finnish Pekka Kuusisto and his goddamned violin to her dinner table, my heart started racing with fear. An evening of violin music to a rock and roller was far worse than being chased by a wolf. 

This Finnish hotel was found on Pinterest 

And because of that I didn’t start my research with Pekka, our man of the day. I chose a Sunday afternoon and made the family sit in front of the TV screen, and started searching video clips on Life and Food in Finland. Within an hour we all wanted to go and live there, at least for the summer. And maybe a bit of winter, so that we could lie in saunas and then run into the freezing cold and dip into a perfect little hole made into the ice. 

 

We watched clips on people roaming through forests to find the freshest ingredients, we toured Finnish Art Museums. We watched the real Santa Claus handing out presents in Lapland. We were sold. But Finland wasn’t invited, so I had to go to old Pekka, and find out what it was that lured Helen so. 

I couldn’t.

 

So I opted to search for a dessert, (it was our turn) and to keep on avoiding the violin. The thinly rolled pastries overwhelmed me, and in the end I decided on The Runeberg Torte. (Mauritz had to make it of course; I am a disaster in the kitchen.) A Runeberg Torte is a cardamom, orange, almond and ginger cake, soaked in rum, with icing, and a berry jam topping. The cake got its name from Johan and Frederika Runeberg. (I am writing her into this blog, and humbly, into history,  for if she didn't bake the damn torte, we would all still be without it.) Johan was a poet. She was a writer.

Perfectly baked Runeberg Torte

Runeberg had a sweet tooth, eight children and little money. His wife started making this torte for her husband, using frugal everyday ingredients.  It became the poet’s daily breakfast, and in turn the man became the national poet of Finland, and every year in February the torte is eaten everywhere to celebrate Johan Ludwig’s birthday.  

 

This sent me on a chase to find Runeberg’s poetry, and the only free lines in English was found in lyrics of Ensiferum, a Finnish Death/Power/Folk/Metal Band. They loved one of Runeberg’s verses so much that they used it in their song “Old Man.”  It is heavy. And it is Viking Metal, but I couldn’t stop listening to it. Mainly because a dessert lead me to a 200 year old poet and the poet lead me to a Viking band. And in this, I am in between, as if we are all connected. 

Pic from Metal Forces Magazine 

In the meantime I went out

Running

Swimming

Playing with my dog

Anything to avoid the man and his violin 

 

Until I had only a week left.

 

Then I did it. I put the violinist’s name into the search engine. 

Pekka Kuusisto hit me in the stomach like a scene from Fight Club. This man, this Pekka, is no violinist. He is a miracle, a free thinker, and an out of the box creator of experiences. A trickster and joker. A lover of old Finnish Folk music. A brilliant soloist and I am sure Mauritz, a lover of the violin, and Helen, a flutist who once played for The Tapiola Sinfonietta, would appreciate his talent much more than I do. 

 

But then, he also plays with Nightwish, a symphonic metal band. He features with Don Johnston Big Band, a group that fuses hip-hop, rap, techno, jazz and blues. 

He has written music for doccies on climate change… He laughs often. He composed some of the music for the 2019 Moomin Valley TV series… He is a million bucks, this man, but nothing prepared me for Pekka in a red dress. A dress that filled the entire floor of the Boulez Saal in Berlin. True story. And our Pekka wore it, playing his violin like a master.  Check it out and tell me you didn’t weep. 

It happens only a few times in life that something truly transports you. And this has transported me. Aamu Song (The prolific South Korean artist who made this dress) said that she loved lying on a mat at her granny’s feet while listening to granny playing the piano. And that is why she made the dress. So that people could be connected to the artist. She wanted to break down barriers. The dress that Pekka puts on, is a space, it invites you in… 

And with all this music in my head

And with overcoming my fear of the violin

And with art

And beauty that screeches at you and

Love

And with Pekka’s violin in my head, 

We arrived at Helen’s house at dusk. 

 

Helen poured us all some glögi, a hot mulled drink, that put us into a jolly mood in seconds. (We had to add more vodka! Sies Helen for being skimpy!) 

Glögi with added almonds and raisins

The evening was darkening and wrapped itself over us like a hand knitted shawl and called us inside for Zenobia’s stuffed herring, meatballs and baby cucumber salad. I felt as if I were in Pekka’s dress. I felt so close to everyone by tasting this, that I wanted to kiss them all in spite of the dreaded virus. 

We played Sibelius and I didn’t mind, we had wine. We laughed. We caught up. We discussed Zenobia’s Decemeber guest…. (a surprise my dearests...) 

Helen served the main course from her exquisite side table. 

Helen prepared a salmon that tasted freshly caught, baby potatoes, and two salads. One was cabbage and one beetroot, both to die for. Halfway through the dinner expletives were uttered when Helen realized that she had forgotten the pink and black roe! Hannes baked real Finnish bread named Rieska, that we all had more of once the roe appeared on the table. 

Zenobia's starter and Helen's mains, plated

The Runeberg Torte tingled on our tongues, and silly me didn’t even take a pic! More wine, more roe, more laughter. 

The moon came out and I bowed to change. To Violins. And to the enormous spirit of Pekka Kuusisto. 

 

*****

Some extra stuff

Helen is a flutist of course and played with The Tapiola Sinfonietta in 2002. She came back to South Africa and soon after that started the Keiskamma Trust. A place of hope for many South African children

Learn how to bake a Runeberg Torte, a true delight

Don Johnston Big Band performs with Pekka

 

Only for the truly brave: Ensiferum’s  “Old Man” 

 

More on Pekka in the Red Dress. Interview by Sarah Willis

 

The Creator of The Moomin’s deserves to be invited one day, but in the mean time watch Pekka talk about composing  his favourite episodes...  

And visit Finland if you can! 

 

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