Coinneach MacLeod - The Hebridean Baker speaking at the St Andrew's Book Festival 2024 - video Dailymotion

The Scotsman

Coinneach MacLeod - The_Hebridean_Baker speaking at the St Andrew's Book Festival 2024

Transcript

00:00I'm here with Kanyak McLeod, have I got that right?

00:03You have.

00:04Good, good.

00:05And we're at the St Andrews Book Festival in London.

00:08And I wanted to ask you, I'm a novice in the kitchen, Kanyak, now I don't really know

00:14my way around mixes and ovens and things.

00:19What should I start with?

00:22Well the best place to start is in my cocktails chapter, because after the eight cocktails

00:27nobody will worry what you baked or cooked at all.

00:30But I have to say, I remember I was in Denver on my tour and this lady put up her hand and

00:36said, how do I get married to a man from the Outer Hebrides?

00:39And I said, it's very easy.

00:41If you learn how to make a clouty dumpling, book yourself a one-way flight, you'll be

00:46married in a fortnight.

00:49So there's some absolute classics and that's the absolute goal of this book, is to keep

00:55the traditions and culture of our food relevant across the world.

01:02And so I put the classics in there, like clouty dumpling and the scones and the oat cakes

01:08and the shortbreads and the bridespawn and the Scots flummery and all these amazing traditional

01:13recipes.

01:14But at the same time, I'm not trying to make anybody into a Michelin star chef.

01:18I want to make people into a passionate home baker.

01:21So you'll be fine.

01:22You'll be fine.

01:23Well, you do master all of the skills then.

01:26What would be, you know, when you say, oh, David, you've done really well, you've mastered

01:32the skills.

01:33What's the token dish that would prove that?

01:35Well, do you know what, in my second book, I decided to put a chapter of Nordic recipes

01:43in the book.

01:44As coming from the Hebrides, obviously, we were part of the Nordic kingdom of man for

01:49400 years.

01:51So we do look north for a lot of our influences.

01:54And there is a particular recipe from Norway, which they call verdansk bestekakke, the world's

02:00best cake.

02:03And it is layers and layers of meringue and sponge and creme pate.

02:08And if you can master that, well, you're going to get the biggest hug every night from whoever's

02:14around that table.

02:15That sounds great to me.

02:17Now, we're, well, it will be soon St. Andrew's Day tomorrow, right?

02:23And I was wondering, if in an ideal world, then St. Andrew's Day became as popular as

02:30St. Patrick's Day and there was a sort of a national dish of the day, what would it

02:36be?

02:37That's a good question, actually.

02:38It is.

02:39It's an interesting contrast between the two days.

02:40And St. Patrick's Day has really become a global celebration, even for those who don't

02:46have Irish connections.

02:47But at the same time, there is people around the world that continue to celebrate their

02:52Scottish connections.

02:53We have Tartan Day and New York parades and the amazing Highland Games scene in North

02:59America as well, which I attend.

03:01But if there was one dish, God, that's a toughie to sum it up.

03:04But I do every time I am in America, they always say one thing.

03:08They say, I'm not going to try the accent.

03:10I'm terrible at accents.

03:11They always say, you Scots, you're great at making soup.

03:14And you're right.

03:16We are great at making soup.

03:17So I just think, I don't know if I could choose one.

03:20Maybe I could.

03:21Maybe a good Cullen skink, a good East Coast recipe, even though I'm from the West Coast,

03:25I think everybody would be very happy with that.

03:28And just finally, your cookbooks sell phenomenally well.

03:33I gather that they're the best selling Scottish cookbooks for three years in a row.

03:41And yet, listening to you today at the St. Andrew's Book Festival, I find out that there's

03:45an incredible number of skills that you've also got.

03:49And I never would have dreamt that you would design Scottish football kits, that you'd

03:54been to Moscow for two years working.

03:58And also that you did a postgraduate degree in Icelandic studies, wasn't it?

04:03That's right.

04:04And you've got a fantastic singing voice.

04:05I mean, it seems to me that you've got so many other careers that you could have also

04:09done.

04:10So this one's really special to you, though.

04:13It is.

04:14I've been very fortunate that I have real passions in life, be it sport or music or

04:19culture, and I've been able to experience them in everything I do.

04:24Even though I can't call Hebridean Baker a job, if it was a job, it's the best job in

04:29the world.

04:30Unfortunately, others can't apply for it, but I'll be happy to keep the title of Hebridean

04:35Baker for a long time to come.

04:37Long may you do that.

04:38Thank you very much for talking to us.

04:40Bye bye.

Coinneach MacLeod - The Hebridean Baker speaking at the St Andrew's Book Festival 2024

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