S13.E04: Mexican Week

[WildPlum]

But I am not sure it's "fair" to gauge the quality of the bake by "cultural authenticity", particularly for a culture many, if not all, of the bakers have never experienced. It'd be like asking me to cook Laplander foods. Hmm, heard of the place and can find it on a map, no idea what the food is like. These are not supposed to be professional cooks.

French, German, Italian - even Chinese, Thai, Ethiopian, Japanese, Indian - are all foods that the bakers might be locally familiar with, even if the local dishes are not necessarily authentic to the culture they come from (see: "curry"). So having an expert in Mexican cuisine on wouldn't really fix the issue, unless they went back to the old Sue-and-Mel episodes where the actually talked to experts.

I actually think the "Mexican Week" tie-in was partly because they haven't done it before and partly a bit of nepotism to promote Paul's "Hollywood Eats" thing on BBC4. (Which I haven't been able to watch, in part because I am too lazy to set up a vpn and change my country code, although I have considered that to Watch the Canadian Baking Show.)

Edited October 14, 2022 by WildPlum

[BryroseA]

It’s been a week and I’m still not over them stacking tres leches. Stacking. If you can stack your tres leches you have made it wrong. It should be swimming in its overnight soak in a Tupperware pan, and you should basically eat it with a spoon. Such beauty. 😭

[meep.meep]

On 10/14/2022 at 10:54 AM, WildPlum said:

I actually think the "Mexican Week" tie-in was partly because they haven't done it before and partly a bit of nepotism to promote Paul's "Hollywood Eats" thing on BBC4. (Which I haven't been able to watch, in part because I am too lazy to set up a vpn and change my country code, although I have considered that to Watch the Canadian Baking Show.)

It was totally done to promote Paul's Mexican show.  Which is pretty crap in my book.  At least there was some baking of actual Mexican types of baked goods, but neither Paul or Prue were appropriate judges.

[Xantar]

On 10/14/2022 at 1:54 PM, WildPlum said:

But I am not sure it's "fair" to gauge the quality of the bake by "cultural authenticity", particularly for a culture many, if not all, of the bakers have never experienced. It'd be like asking me to cook Laplander foods. Hmm, heard of the place and can find it on a map, no idea what the food is like. These are not supposed to be professional cooks.

I haven’t seen anybody — in this thread or anywhere else — criticizing the contestants in this episode. The criticisms have been about the choice of challenges, the stereotypical jokes, and the judges acting like they know anything at all about Mexican food. I just don’t see anybody bashing on the contestants.

[awaken]

On 10/8/2022 at 6:15 PM, JoyousSpring said:

She's gone now,  but can someone please explain what's been done to Reb's eyebrows? Is that what microblading looks like or are they tattooed on? 

Thanks for mentioning that!  It was high on my list of topics to discuss!  Those very prominent, overly shaped eyebrows!  Wow. 😳

reminds me of the contestant who wore the heavy black eyeliner. It’s all you can look at.  

[Ilovepie]

On 10/23/2022 at 2:35 AM, awaken said:

Thanks for mentioning that!  It was high on my list of topics to discuss!  Those very prominent, overly shaped eyebrows!  Wow. 😳

reminds me of the contestant who wore the heavy black eyeliner. It’s all you can look at.  

Microblading is a type of semi-permanent tattoo, and the quality depends on the skill of aesthetician performing the work. You can also still fill them in with a pencil or powder for a more dramatic look after microblading if you desire. No idea if Rebs is just filling in natural brows, has had them microbladed or both. I actually think her brows looked nice and nothing out of the ordinary other than being precise and polished.