Coinneach MacLeod is The Hebridean Baker. He began sharing his love of the Outer Hebrides and Scottish recipes on social media in 2020. This book, a result of the popularity of his media posts, is much more than a cookbook. It is the love story of a man and a place, and in its telling we fall in love with both. He eloquently gives the history of the Outer Hebrides from the Vikings to present day, including myths and legends. His “Wee Stories” also include tales of his childhood and of his friends and family. He takes us on a tour of this part of Scotland that is so well written you can feel the wind and smell the ocean. MacLeod intersperses many Gaelic words and phrases into his stories which adds to the feeling of travelling to a different place. And then there are photographs. The scenery is breathtaking and so are the photographs, whether it be scenery or food! This is a book to read and enjoy even if you aren’t a baker.
There are recipes, many of them. MacLeod has taken traditional recipes and given them a new twist. His recipe for Hebridean pasty uses salmon instead of the traditional lamb or beef used in Cornish Pasties. His ingredients are all locally sourced from the Hebrides, but I found the recipes tasty even with ingredients from my local grocery. My American measurements are in parentheses.
Hebridean Pasty
For the pastry
250g strong bread flour (2 cups bread flour)
15g butter (1Tablespoon)
60g vegetable shortening or suet (6 Tablespoons shortening)
½ teaspoon salt
90ml cold water (9 Tablespoons)
1 egg beaten with a pinch of salt for the glazing
For the filling
85g onions (3/4 cup)
100g swede (1 cup rutabaga)
100g potato (1 cup)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
175g hot smoked salmon (6 oz. available in most US supermarkets)
Method
Add the flour, butter, shortening or suet, salt and water into a bowl and stir to combine. Begin to use your hands – you will be left with a quite dry dough. Knead the dough vigorously for about five minutes until it becomes smooth. Wrap it in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for an hour.
Peel and chop your onion, swede, and potatoes into wee 1cm (1/2 inch) squares, mix in a bowl and season well.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 340°F ( I used 350°F)
Divide pastry dough in half and roll out each into a 25cm (10 inch) round. Spoon half of the vegetable mix onto one half of each round and lay half of the salmon on top, then add a knob of butter on top.
Brush the pastry all the way round the edge with the beaten egg. Fold the pastry over, push with your fingers to seal. A traditional pasty is crimped around the edge twenty times by making small twists along the sealed edge.
Put the pasties onto a lined baking tray and brush the tops with the egg. Bake for 40 minutes or until the pasties are golden brown.
OATS
The Hebridean Baker has a whole chapter on oats beginning with a Gaelic poem:
Bigu subhach, geamnaidh,
Moch-thrathach as t-Samhradh;
Brochanach’s Gheamhradh.
In summertime be cheerful, sober, and early out of bed;
In winter be hooded, well shod and well on porridge fed.
The recipes in the oat chapter include traditional favorites but often with a modern twist. He serves the raspberry cranachan in a molded white chocolate cup and even has an overnight chocolate oats recipe. The oatcake recipe takes on a new shape as well.
Wee Oatcake Men
Makes a dozen
Ingredients
200g (2 cups) rolled oats
50g (1/4 cup) pinhead or steelcut oats, plus a little extra for dusting
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon brown sugar
75g ( 5 1/2 tablespoons) butter
75 ml (1/3 cup) water
Method
Preheat oven to 180° C/ 360° F (I used 350°F)
Line a baking tray with parchment. Stir the rolled and pinhead oats together, then blend 100g (3/4 cup) of the oats mix you have just made to create oat flour and return to the bowl.
Add your salt and sugar.
Stir the butter into boiling water until melted, then add into the oats mix and combine until it begins to hold together in a dough.
Dust your work surface with pinhead oats and roll out the dough until it is about 5mm (3/16 inch) thick.
Use a traditional gingerbread man cookie cutter on your dough. With a palette knife, lift each one onto the lined baking tray. You can continue to re-roll any scraps until all the dough is used up.
Bake for 20 minutes, switch off the oven, carefully turn the gingerbread men over and bake for 5 more minutes.
Remove from the oven and lift from the tray. Cool on a wire rack.
The Hebridean Baker, Coinneach MacLeod, Sourcebooks, Naperville Illinois 2022.