'The Great British Bake Off' Stirs Backlash Due to 'Mexican Week' Episode

By Daniel S. Levine

The Great British Bake Off faces backlash for its latest episode focusing on Mexican cuisine. After it aired on Channel 4 on Oct. 4 in the U.K., images, and video from the show went viral, highlighting the racist stereotypes and cuisine cliches the episode focused on. The hosts, Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding, even wore sombreros and ponchos during their introduction, setting the tone for everything that followed.

The episode started with Fielding insisting there should be "no Mexican jokes," which inspired Fielding to respond with one. "What, not even Juan?" he replied. Fielding then broke his own rule while the bakers made a dozen pan dulce. He attempted to joke about Mexico not really existing. "I think it's like Zanadu," Lucas said. "Like Oz," Fielding replied, notes The Daily Beast.

Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith were also offensive. Leith frequently told bakers that things look Mexican if they just have "vibrant color." Hollywood kept pronouncing tacos as "tack-os." No one on the show could properly pronounce "pico de gallo" either. One baker even calls guacamole "glockymolo."

'Mexican week really is THAT bad'

Viewers weren't the only ones horrified. Several chefs spoke with The Guardian and they also could not believe what they saw. The episode only served to highlight how Mexican cuisine is "one of the most misunderstood," they said.

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'We need a counter on the screen for each pronunciation offense'

"For me, it's a bit sad to see this kind of thing because knowing my culture and my country, I feel it's more than just a cactus and a sombrero," Adriana Cavita, a chef from Mexico City who runs a restaurant in London, told The Guardian. "But I think slowly people are starting to learn more and I hope people will get more interested in proper Mexican culture and food. That's something I'm trying to do with my restaurant."

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'16 seconds in... and I'm already offended'

Thomasina Miers, who owns the Wahaca chain of Mexican-themed restaurants in the U.K., described trying to break the idea that Mexican food is "naff, cheap, unhealthy," which took root in the 1990s. "The indigenous Mexican diet is incredible for the planet, because it's rich in pulses, beans, tomatillos, and corn, it's a complex diet with very little meat and it's the perfect example of the way we should all be eating now," Miers explained.

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'What did Mexico ever do to England?'

The Great British Bake Off kicked down "10 years" of work chefs have done to open people's minds about what Mexican cuisine really is, Nud Dudhia, who runs a taco shack, said. "It's almost as though no research or respect was shown to the culture and cuisine," Dudhia said, adding that the show did not rap into diners' increasing "appetite for real food and a real representation of what they might get if they went to that country."

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'Way more infuriating than Taco Bell'

This was not the first time The Great British Bake Off was criticized for an offensive episode. In 2020, Japanese Week shocked viewers because the show had no actual Japanese desserts. Most contestants also made pork buns, which are more often found in Chinese cuisine.

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'The U.K. is where flavor goes to die'

The Great British Bake Off is known as The Great British Baking Show in the U.S. and Canada. The Mexican Week episode is now available on Netflix.

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