Cafe Cùil Cookbook: Recipes from the Isle of Skye

For a limited time we have copies signed by Clare Coghill.

Clare Coghill grew up on the Isle of Skye, in a family that ran a hotel there for more than a century, and the cooking at her Café Cùil draws on a Hebridean larder she knows in detail: the produce, the fish and shellfish from the surrounding waters, the foraged plants that grow along the coast. What makes the book distinctive is how freely she reworks that material.

The Hebridean-meets-global moves are the most immediately striking. Tattie scone tacos. Highland shakshuka built with black pudding and fresh crowdie cheese. Chanterelles on toast with kale and miso butter. A rhubarb crumble pancake topped with mascarpone flavored with local gorse flowers, which impart a coconutty scent.

Just as telling is what Coghill does with single ingredients. Rhubarb appears in a carrot and tarragon soup for what she describes as its bold, acidic flavor, "acting similarly to a lemon or lime." Langoustine bisque takes a splash of Isle of Raasay whisky. Roasted cauliflower gets a lift from stewed red currants. These are the choices of a cook who has thought past the easy substitutions.

Stylish and within the reach of comfortable home cooks.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.