The Hebridean Baker dishes on new Nordic series and cheeky Eurovision memories

Coinneach MacLeod knows exactly how he’d like to be seen from now on: as “the Stanley Tucci of the Outer Hebrides.” It’s a moniker bestowed upon him by a chef he was interviewing as part of his new series, Hebridean Baker – Nordic Islands. 

Known to many as the Hebridean Baker, MacLeod is an international best-selling cookbook author who makes his TV debut in the series, during which he explores the cultures and cuisines of the Norwegian archipelago of Lofoten, the Faroe Islands, Sweden’s Gotland, and Bornholm, a Danish isle in the North Sea.

From Danish pastries to fermented sheep’s heads, MacLeod gets a taste of local delicacies. Clad in his signature Fair-Isle knitted sweaters along with his yellow wellies, his charm is sure to shine through. “The thread of the show is the islands,” he says. 

MacLeod visits a different island in each of the four 45-minute episodes and immerses himself in life there. “It’s not only about the food but also the culture, the people and how it shapes you coming from an island. It was amazing.”

Throughout the series, he discovers that Nordic life is not so different to that on the Hebrides, islands that are closer to Iceland’s south coast than England’s. He recalls being a teenager and understanding he was different, something that stands out on a small island even more than in a small town, regardless of whether it’s because of sexuality or musical taste.

He bonded over this with one woman he met, also the child of a fisherman, who had wanted to flee island-life for ages, only to find they missed it once they got their supposed freedom. “I felt exactly the same way,” MacLeod says. “The moment I could get off the island, I was off. Then, the moment I got off the island, I was like: ‘Oh no, the islands are me’. So, there was a lot of similarities.

“There’s a beautiful word in Gaelic, ‘cianalas,’ which means the drawback to the island. That’s what I sensed the most when I was chatting to these people who had ventured away. It’s a good thing to go away, learn a bit more about yourself and be able to take that back to the island.”

Part of what makes Nordic Islands so different is that it was filmed twice, once in English and once in Gaelic, MacLeod’s first language. It’s something the baker is “super proud of”.

About 70,000 people in Scotland speak the language fluently and MacLeod hopes the series will encourage people “to learn more about it and inspire them to come to the Hebrides. I hope it envelops them”.

 “When you’re eating a fermented sheep’s head… you’ve got to eat four of them.”

UK audiences can watch the Gaelic version with subtitles.

Repeating some things was easier in some areas than others. “When you’re eating a fermented sheep’s head, for example, you’ve got to eat four of them because you’ve got to do the English language one, the close-ups, then to do the Gaelic,” MacLeod explains.

The sheep’s head is just one of a number of delicacies he got to taste. “I probably wouldn’t keep eating that,” he admits.  

One moment during filming brought him back to his childhood: standing on the quayside waiting for his fisherman father to come home.

All the men in his family before him had been fisherman but MacLeod knew from a young age it wasn’t for him. “I couldn’t think of anything worse,” he says. “I remember going out in the boat and crying that I had to come home.” Shortly before he turned 14, an age when men on the island could leave school to become fishermen, he wondered: “Is this going to be my life?” 

One person who didn’t think it was going to be, was his mother, who witnessed him devising a dance routine to Samantha Fox’s “Touch Me (I Want Your Body)” on roller skates.

“The fact that I’m gay and talk about it, that’s given [people] confidence”

After school, MacLeod moved to Russia to work and that’s where he came out, which seems unbelievable looking at the country now. But his experience is remarkable because he joined the Russia media delegation for Eurovision for 12 years. “What gay man wouldn’t want to spend a week every year at Eurovision?” MacLeod asks. “If you hadn’t snogged a Swedish backing singer by the Tuesday, it was a very disappointing week.”

He has never shied away from including his partner, Paul, when talking about his life. It’s the representation he never had growing up, and the significance is not lost on him. “The fact that I’m gay and talk about it, that’s given [people] confidence, not only young people, but people in their fifties, sixties. It’s making that wee difference, I hope.”

Hebridean Baker: Nordic Islands continues on BBC Alba on Thursdays at 9pm. All episodes are available to stream on the BBC iPlayer now.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.