In the latest episode of The Great British Bake Off, Paul Hollywood tells a contestant that he’s just gotten back from Mexico. Judging from the reaction to the show’s Mexican Week so far, though, he might want to hold off on his next visit. Where to start? Well, hosts Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding opened the episode by asking whether they would upset people if they made “Juan†joke about Mexicans. The pair were dressed in sombreros and serapes, which Insider’s Libby Torres described as “costumey versions of traditional Mexican garments [that] took things from cringe-y but harmless to uncomfortable.†Meanwhile, the internet has also had a field day with the many mispronunciations in the episode — pico de gallo as “pico de callow,†guacamole as “glockymolo,†and taco as “tacko,†to name a few. Now, we don’t think anyone is expecting Spanish fluency from this British show, but the verbal fumbling feels a bit painful in an episode where the hosts question whether Mexico is a “real place†and then compare the country to Oz and Xanadu.
There’s also the matter of the pan dulce, tacos, and tres leches cakes that star in the week’s challenges — Prue Leith may have enjoyed the colors, but some viewers feel that the food presented was not a good reflection of Mexican food. “Because of what’s happening in the culinary scene in London, people’s minds are being opened to what real Mexican food is, then The Great British Bake Off comes and kicks that back 10 years,†chef Nud Dudhia told The Guardian. “It’s almost as though no research or respect was shown to the culture and cuisine.†Lucas and his red, white, and green maracas are surely shocked. Sorry, Mexico Week! You can take your place with Japanese Week in the line of GBBO’s other half-baked ideas.