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