The Great British Bake Off is one of those shows many of us love to return to for a dose of comfort.
Even when things have wrapped up for the year – something we’d rather not think about just yet - there’s always a bank of old episodes ready for you to curl up with, all thanks to the modern power of streamers.
But there’s one episode that show execs may wish to forget, as it ended up offending so many people that it forced them to completely scrap a format.
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As any self-respecting Bake Off fan knows, each week is given a theme around which to focus the bakes.
This week’s theme, for instance, is Autumn Week, with bakers tasked with making a sweet, seasonal pie for the Signature, a ‘vegan version of a Northern classic’ in the Technical and a vegetable-based cake Showstopper.
On other occasions, it might be centred on a style or type of baking, such as Pastry Week or Dessert Week.
Back in 2022, we had the ill-fated Mexican Week, which saw the contestants given a pan dulce Signature, a taco Technical and, finally, a tres leches cake Showstopper.
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The only thing is, after the episode aired, the show was accused of casual racism and stereotyping, as viewers hit out at the hosts wearing sombreros and speaking in accents, amid concerns that the challenges also weren’t based on truly authentic Mexican dishes.
A few months later, judge Paul Hollywood admitted he felt ‘gutted’ with the reaction, telling Eater: "I'd literally come back from Mexico about three weeks before we filmed the episode. I spent a month over there with Mexican chefs, working with tacos and enjoying the food in Tijuana and Mexico City and Oaxaca and Cancun.
"I was all over the place, and we set the challenges based on what I'd seen there. The challenges were very good, and everyone did a good job.
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“There’s not a bad bone in any of the bodies of anyone connected with Bake Off that would want to upset Mexico. And certainly not me, because I love the country.”
He added: “I was really upset about it.”
Prue Leith also stressed they never had any intentions to be ‘controversial’, saying:
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"The thing about Bake Off is that it absolutely represents inclusivity and diversity and tolerance and togetherness.
"So the idea that we were set out to insult anybody is ridiculous."
The following year, Executive Producer Kieran Smith told the Guardian that they hadn’t meant to cause any offence, having previously also done similar German and Japanese themed weeks.
"We didn't want to offend anyone but the world has changed and the joke fell flat,” he said.
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"We're not doing any national themes this year."
He said that the 2023 series would be ‘very traditional', adding: "We're doing all the regular weeks: Cakes, biscuits, bread, patisserie, chocolate, plus party cakes is a new theme."
The episode came up a few days ago on Reddit, where one user said they were rewatching it.
“It really was as bad as I remembered it,” they wrote.
And it seems many others feel the same, with one commenting: “I still have nightmares about the stacked and fully iced tres leches. If you can stack tres leches cakes, you've made them wrong.”
Someone else agreed: “I recently rewatched it and I was aghast in horror at how they butchered it sooooo badly. I'm in agreement with those who think certain ‘themed’ bakes should be judged by actual experts in those cuisines.”
Another added: “It was borderline RUDE.”
A Mexican fan even piped up, saying: “Yes! I am Mexican and just got to this episode on rewatch and stopped there. Some comments were a bit insensitive. Like what do we even bake.”
But one other defended the show, explaining: “I’m Mexican and wasn’t offended. Why would I? It wasn’t done with the intention to mock Mexican culture. I also understand that authentic Mexican food is not big in the UK, so it was never going to be an amazing cultural showcase.
“It was very amusing though.”
Topics: Food and Drink, Great British Bake Off, TV And Film, Reddit, Channel 4
Jess Hardiman