This life COINNEACH MACLEOD THE HEBRIDEAN BAKER

We chat to the Lewis man about friends, family and food - and how it feels to have 20 million people watching you bake

- Catherine Coyle

What's on your bucket list? Thrills and adventure? Travel to far-flung places? While Coinneach Macleod never actually sat down and wrote his out, it seems he has been living his dreams, quietly and unassumingly, for the last 25 years. You might recognise him now, though. Thanks to a pandemic-induced TikTok account that has clocked up almost 250,000 followers so far, the man known as the Hebridean Baker is mapping out where his bucket list is going to take him next. For Coinneach, who grew up on the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the thought of jetting off to Las Vegas to speak to devotees of his cookbooks is just as exciting as visiting his 93-year-old auntie, from whom he got his love of baking and cooking. "She has been making the same clootie dumpling recipe every week for the last 80 years," he laughs.

"I thought to myself how inspiring that was and that people on the island might watch videos of me sharing these recipes. I never dreamt that 20 million people around the world would watch. TikTok was how it all started."

He has just released his second book, My Scottish Island Kitchen (Black and White Publishing). It's another helping of delicious recipes and beautiful photography, but, as he puts it, "This is more than just a cookbook - it's a way of storytelling, sharing experiences and celebrating the friends and family I have here." For him, that's the holy trinity, and where his true passions collide. The book is infused with the joy and pride he feels in the traditional dishes he grew up eating, and with the love he feels for the landscapes and its people.