A 'Great British Bake Off' episode is getting heat for stereotyping Mexican culture

CNN  — 

A caller occurrence of “The Great British Bake Off” is drafting disapproval from immoderate viewers for its depictions of Mexican culture.

In the “Mexican Week” occurrence of the world contention series, which aired successful the UK connected Tuesday and was released successful the US connected Friday, contestants are tasked with making cookware dulce, tacos and tres leches barroom – dishes that critics saw arsenic cliché and uninspired. The hosts, meanwhile, capsicum successful attempts astatine tongue-in-cheek wit that not each viewers recovered funny.

In the opening scene, hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas deterioration sombreros and serapes portion quipping astir whether radical mightiness find specified jokes offensive. At different point, Fielding muses, “So, is Mexico a existent place?” portion Lucas, successful turn, likens the state to Xanadu. Other scenes see Lucas shaking maracas and contestants butchering pronunciations for guacamole and pico de gallo.

The episode’s flippant code and usage of stereotypes rubbed galore viewers the incorrect way.

Lesley Tellez, a nutrient writer and writer of the cookbook “Eat Mexico: Recipes from Mexico City’s Streets, Markets and Fondas,” said that portion she hadn’t seen the afloat episode, she recovered the snippets that were circulating connected societal media unimaginative.

Despite its diversity, Mexican cuisine gets overshadowed successful the culinary satellite by European cuisines, she added, and the show’s attraction of it perpetuates misconceptions.

“I deliberation they should person been a batch much thoughtful astir it,” Tellez told CNN. “It reduces Mexican nutrient to stereotypes – to being this two-dimensional cuisine.”

Though it would person veered from the show’s emblematic format, Tellez said she would person liked to spot “The Great British Bake Off” bring successful a Mexican cook arsenic a guest, arsenic opposed to having 2 White, British judges service arsenic authorities.

Alejandra Ramos, big of “The Great American Recipe” connected PBS and a cook of Puerto Rican descent, said the occurrence reflected a deficiency of diverseness down and successful beforehand of the camera.

“This would person been a cleanable infinitesimal to bring successful a Mexican impermanent justice oregon big to pb the discussions connected camera and to usher the contestants,” she wrote successful an email to CNN. “There should person besides been consultants with existent Mexican taste and nutrient inheritance and expertise brought successful to consult connected the story, scripting, nutrient styling and challenges – arsenic good arsenic the post-production and marketing.”

Ramos besides questioned wherefore a baking contention would situation contestants to marque tacos – a constituent viewers of the show person besides called retired connected societal media.

“Mexico has unthinkable pastries, cakes, breads, and adjacent baked savory dishes that they could person made instead,” she said. “But that would person called for much existent cognition astir Mexican civilization and cuisine which is intelligibly lacking here.”

CNN has reached retired to “The Great British Bake Off” for comment.

Since the archetypal occurrence aired successful 2010, “The Great British Bake Off” – which streams stateside arsenic “The Great British Baking Show” – has go a taste phenomenon, soothing viewers with its tone of camaraderie and offering them an escape. Still, it’s garnered complaints of taste insensitivity before.

During a “Japanese Week” episode successful 2020, immoderate contestants devised concoctions that alternatively relied connected Chinese and Indian flavors, which immoderate critics said amounted to conflating chiseled Asian cuisines. That aforesaid occurrence saw Lucas notation to katsu curry arsenic “cat poo curry.”

“Anyone who’s watched GBBO besides knows however prickly the judges get erstwhile they deliberation thing has excessively overmuch spice, however easy they exoticize non-British foods, and however the modular marker of a bully baker is their quality to marque a Victoria Sponge,” Jaya Saxena wrote successful a 2020 nonfiction for Eater.

Former contestants person besides spoken retired connected the show’s diversity issues.

In an interview with Insider past year, Rav Bansal called for caller hosts and judges who were amended versed successful non-English ingredients and recipes, and who could amended bespeak the show’s divers formed of contestants. Ali Imdad expressed astonishment that accumulation unit had allowed definite missteps to occur. Ruby Tandoh referred to the amusement arsenic a “strange conveyance for change,” penning successful an effort for the nutrient work Heated that it had launched the careers of respective Black and brownish chefs portion being “steeped successful the symbolism of an old-fashioned, implicitly achromatic Britishness.”