With January comes this idea of renewal, a commitment to a goal, a healthier diet or lifestyle or, perhaps, giving up alcohol for the month. It’s a great time for hunkering down and learning or trying something new.
If you find yourself looking to learn more about food, drink or try some new recipes, here are some of the best books to do so - all from Scottish authors and businesses.
Why not kick off 2026 by learning all about wine with this fab new book from Master of Wine (and The Scotsman Wine Columnist) Rose Murray Brown?
Written as a series of masterclasses - anyone who has been to one of Rose’s events will know this is her forte - the book is the opposite of a stuffy wine guide.
Immerse yourself in wine and learn things like: 10 step-by-step self-guided tasting practices: which can be done at home with or without tasting buddies; trending wine from natural, orange, low alcohol, Pet Nat; how to match food and wine thanks to advice from two leading sommeliers; the wine making process - what happens in a vineyard; the changing world of wine including carbon neutral wineries; the rise of indigenous grapes; a detailed guide to 51 wine countries and a directory of wineries to visit.
Priced at £25, you can buy a copy here from an independent book shop.
In 2021 Scottish Gaelic-speaking chef Clare Coghill opened Café Cuil, the Isle of Skye’s iconic red-roofed Hebridean breakfast, brunch and lunch spot. Clare has recently published the Café Cuil Cookbook: Recipes from The Isle of Skye.
The book has been lovingly crafted by Clare in response to the hundreds of recipe requests she receives from visitors to her Highland “hidden-gem”.
The café specialises in Hebridean inspired dishes and re-imagined Scottish classics – wonderful, colourful and locally sourced seasonal dishes which Clare has brought to life in the book.
Clare, who grew up on Skye, celebrates the produce available on her doorstep, and throughout the Highlands and Islands, in all of her recipes. Her culinary ethos is simplicity and creativity, ensuring that all the recipes are easy to make at home.
Some of the highlights of the menu, which feature in the book include: Soups: Langoustine and whisky bisque / Roasted courgette and Mull Cheddar soup; Sandwiches and toasties: Veggie haggis, leek and Arran mustard / Lobster roll; Pickles and ferments: Cuil Kimchi / Seaweed sauerkraut and Brunch: Porridge, poached pear and praline / Snazzy goreng with langoustines, kimchi and crispy fried egg / Venison steak and eggs / Roast tattie hash with Great Glen chorizo, fried and caramelised cabbage.
The story of Café Cuil (which means nook, nest or corner in Scots Gaelic) starts in Dalston, East London in 2020 where Clare, fresh from winning C4’s My Kitchen Rules, set up a little corner of the Highlands serving her take on breakfast, brunch and lunch inspired by her home on Skye. Post Covid saw Clare relocate the café to the island where she grew up, winning fans and awards along the way: She has garnered 13k followers on Instagram and won The Scotsman’s Scran Awards “Hidden Gem” category 2024.
Buy it here for £25 from an independent book shop.
The Outlander star recently released this drinks-focused book which celebrates his love of cocktails.
Sam’s career has led him on a unique journey around the world and his love of craft spirits, history and travel is distilled into this personal collection of cocktails.
The Cocktail Diaries includes chapters on Sam’s Top 10 all-time favourites, ‘Simple and Timeless’ recipes for those easy crowd-pleasers, ‘Complex and Conversational’ for something a bit more sophisticated, and a final section, ‘Made by Friends’, featuring imaginative recipes created by the best international bartenders, from the top 50 bars in the world, for Sam and his multi award-winning Sassenach Spirits brand.
Sam’s enthusiasm shines through, as he regales tales of tasting cocktails – from the historic Boulevardier in Paris and a Frisco on the Las Vegas Strip to a Papaya Margarita in the back of a van in the Oaxaca mountains – in this tailormade tour of the world’s best cocktails.
Priced at £20 you can buy a copy here from an independent book shop.
Based in a remote cottage in the Cairngorms, Ghillie Basan is an award-winning food author who hosts a range of cooking and wilderness experiences from her beautifully located home.
Ghillie Başan has written more than fifty books on different culinary cultures which, over the last forty years, have been shortlisted and have won a variety of awards.
Her food and travel articles have appeared in a huge variety of newspapers, including the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph, and magazines such as BBC Good Food and Delicious. Ghillie is also one of Scotland’s Food Tourism Ambassadors and champions local produce.
Ghillie recently launched her latest book, Food Whisky Life. Inspired by Scotland’s fantastic produce, wild food and whisky, the book showcases mouth-watering recipes and tells Ghillie’s own inspirational life, in one of the wildest and most beautiful corners of Scotland.
Buy it now, priced at £25, from an independent book shop here.
For those that don’t know about whisky, or anyone who wants an enjoyable read about the very origins of a dram, starting with the history of distilling in 1200BC in China and India, this is the book to buy.
From those ancient days to whisky’s early origins as illicit alcohol made in the hills of Scotland and Ireland to its modern day boom, this book tells the story of whisky through 100 stories, legends and anecdotes.
Readers will also discover the origins of the quaich, whisky glass and corkscrew as well as getting a glimpse into distilleries from all over the world.
The blurb for the book reads: “Award-winning writers Charles MacLean and Gavin D. Smith offer a rollocking narrative; describing the adventures of the legendary characters who shaped the whisky industry. With flavour influenced as much by history, craft and tradition as it is by science, in The Story of Whisky, find out why your drink tastes the way it does, where whisky flavours come from and how they are changing to embrace the future.”
Priced at £45, you can buy a copy here from an independent book shop.
