QnA with Coinneach MacLeod – The Hebridean Baker – who will stop off at Inverness Waterstones and Brodie Countryfare on Monday to sign his new book My Scottish Island Kitchen

Coinneach MacLeod – better-known to millions of TikTok fans as The Hebridean Baker, has a new book out packed with new recipes for all kinds of occasions and times of year – plus there are some of his stories of island life and traditions. Below, are the questions Margaret Chrystall asked him with his answers.

1 Your second book My Scottish Island Kitchen is out this week, what can people expect?

My Scottish Island Kitchen is inspired by family recipes, traditional bakes and Scottish

flavours, I love showcasing Scotland’s extensive larder and making wholesome treats with a story to tell. The cookbook is filled with dishes for all seasons from a Mulled Pear & Pistachio Pavlova to Hot Toddy Bundt Cake, Posh Mince & Tatties to a Caledonian Cream, First Footers Martini to Empire Biscuits. Treats to make every Scot and lover of Scotland flock to their kitchens! There's something here to put a smile on everyone's face and along with the recipes there are heart-warming stories and breathtaking photography from the Outer Hebrides.

2 How did writing the first book change things for you – you were already a star on TikTok and people knew you as The Hebridean Baker across the world? I believe it was the best-selling Scottish cookbook of last year?

Since I have begun sharing my recipes and stories on TikTok and Instagram as the Hebridean Baker, they have had over 21 million views. My debut cookbook The Hebridean Baker, Recipes and Wee Stories from the Scottish Islands became Scotland’s bestselling cookbook of 2021. I have been lucky enough to have appeared on lots of radio and television, including with Kirstie Allsopp, Martin Compston, Ade Adipitan and on shows in the US, New Zealand, Australia, Serbia and Canada!

3 I think since the first book The Hebridean Baker: Recipes And Wee Stories From The Scottish Islands came out – now in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand too – you have had a chance to tour to some of these places. What has that been like? You talked at XpoNorth about the island connections with home that are often there, even in those places!

I was lucky enough to do a 12-city tour of America this year, all the way from New York to Seattle. Each night was a sell-out and it was amazing to meet fellow islanders, many Americans with Scottish heritage or ancestry and those simply passionate about Scotland. I’ve loved being able to promote the culture, food, language and history of the Outer Hebrides.

4 Have you got a favourite recipe from the new book?

I absolutely love all the recipes in the book, and testing them has been the best experience. My partner Peter calls himself the Official Hebridean Baker Cake Taster – and nothing gets in the book unless he gives it the thumbs up! I like adding a twist to a traditional recipe, so you’ll find Cock-a-Leekie Pie, Croque Madame Ècosse, Posh Mince and Tatties, Porridge Bread and Christmas Ice Cream. As a passionate homebaker, it is important that the recipes are accessible and folk will look at them and think, ‘I can make that!’.

5 What did you want to achieve with this book? The format, combining stories from then and now about island life with a satisfyingly large number of recipes for people to discover, seems to remain, along with beautiful pictures of everything from the dishes to the landscape.

My Scottish Island Kitchen shares 75 new recipes from cakes to scones, stews to soups and cocktails to puddings, this along with island stories and beautiful photography from the Hebrides. I continue to champion Scottish recipes and flavours, but added to that, I love sharing island stories, a wee bit of Gaelic and showcasing the beautiful landscapes in the photography. I am hoping it will inspire many to come visit the islands!

6 I watched the session you did at the online XpoNorth creative industries festival called Writing Your Passion and it was clear in this Year Of Storytelling in Scotland how important to your books the stories you tell are – adding your own unique way of making them accessible. As much as your books are recipe books or cookbooks, you seem to delight in bringing the culture, Gaelic language, traditional and contemporary stories to your readers. The storytelling is just as important to you as the food side and the recipes you are developing and sharing as The Hebridean Baker?

I’m lucky I got my height from my mother and my storytelling from my father!! I’m delighted the publishers allowed me to tell island stories in the book. Everything from the story of my granny being one of the Herring Girls, to the myths and legends of the Hebrides. I’m always excited when someone tells me they have began to learn Gaelic because of the Hebridean Baker books, I’m happy to play a small part in the continued growth of the language.

7 What is next for you?

My Scottish book tour continues and I will be at Waterstones Inverness and Brodie Countryfare on Monday, October 10 signing books. I also have some exciting television appearances over the next few months and I will be returning across the Atlantic for another book tour in January.

Coinneach will be at Waterstones Inverness in the Eastgate Centre, Inverness, on Monday (October 10) from 11am-1pm for a booik signing event, also later that day he heads to Brodie Countryfare, by Forres, from 2.30pm-4.30pm. More on Coinneach: https://hebrideanbaker.com/ His new book My Scottish Island Kitchen (Black and White Publishing, £18.55).

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.