The Hebridean Baker has made it into The Wall Street Journal with a review of his first cookbook.
Lewis-born Coinneach MacLeod, who is in the midst of a North American tour, said he was “so excited” to be mentioned by the leading newspaper.
Mr MacLeod’s Scottish cookbook is said to be the “bestselling” in Scotland.
In a post on Facebook, he said: “Wow! So excited that The Wall Street Journal has chosen the Hebridean Baker, Recipes and Wee Stories from the Scottish islands in its best spring cookbooks collection.
“I love the quote ‘MacLeod’s exuberant, cheeky enthusiasm for a cooking culture that leans on tight community bonds and defiant good humor is contagious’.”
He then joked: “Me, cheeky?”.
Mr MacLeod has seen great success with his cookbook after becoming a Tik Tok sensation with his mix of recipes, Gaelic and love of island life.
The book is included in The Wall Street Journal’s list of “Spring 2023 Reading: The Five Best Cookbooks”.
He’s having fun
About Mr MacLeod’s book, it states: “The rough and windswept Hebrides islands off the coast of Scotland aren’t often on the list of culinary hotspots, given a short growing season and long history of scarcity.
“But as Coinneach MacLeod writes in the introduction to “The Hebridean Baker,’ this land of gnarly, intertwined Gaelic and Norse roots is ‘a larder like no other’. Mr
“MacLeod’s exuberant, cheeky enthusiasm for a cooking culture that leans on tight community bonds and defiant good humor is contagious. He’s having fun.
“Mr MacLeod plays the hits—shortbreads, oat cookies, treacle tarts and tattie scones—but it’s the deep cuts that really shine.
“Take Aunt Bellag’s Duff, a rustic, soulful steamed pudding (move over, sticky toffee), or take Scottish Tablet, a traditional bite-size (er, wee) candy that sits somewhere on the family tree of fudge. Both take focus to make, but over deliver on the wow factor.
It adds: “For a simpler springtime bake, turn to Mr MacLeod’s punchy one-bowl Rabarbrakake—rhubarb cake with cardamom, raspberries and almonds. Be sure to save a slice for breakfast the next morning.
“The flavours intensify as it sits.”
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