Paul Hollywood mocked by Bake Off viewers for demanding his steamed buns have no gherkin in them
PAUL Hollywood has been mocked by Bake Off viewers for demanding that his steamed buns have no gherkins in them.
The 54-year-old celebrity baker revealed his pickiness over the pickled cucumbers on last night’s show.
For the first time ever the bakers were tasked with making bao buns, Kawaii cakes and matcha mille-feuille.
Two if the bakers did their twist on the all-time classic beef burger.
Contestant Lottie Bedlow pulled out all the stops last night to impress the judges with her steamed buns.
The 31-year-old theatre producer knocked up a batch of eight soft and delicious burger themed buns.
Meanwhile, fellow contestant Mark Lutton also opted for a classic meat in a bun.
Mark said: “I’m doing burger buns, I’m using beef mince, gherkins, cheese.”
Paul immediately jumped saying: “Oh, gherkin. Can you do one without a gherkin, for me?”
Mark said: “What, do you not like gherkins?”
Paul replied: “I don’t like gherkins.”
The Northern Irish baker, 27, agreed to leave the gherkins to one side after Paul’s recent disclosure, saying: “I’m doing a little one without gherkins for Paul.”
The GBBO host Matt Lucas joked: “Never judge a man on his gherkins.”
Co-host Noel Fielding’s also poked fun at Pauls revelation: “Wow! What is he, five?! He’s supposed to be a judge, a man of the world with an exquisite taste palate.”
Lottie was also forced to make an adjustment to her cheeseburger steamed buns assembling her buns in a traditional fashion by building layers of beef patty, onions, cheese and bacon.
She also wowed the judges with her spiralised chips but Paul insisted that his burger had no gherkins.
Speaking to Lottie, he said: “Can you do one without a gherkin for me?”
Celebrity judge Prue Leith joked that he “hates it.”
Paul was left in hysterics laughing that “the gherkin doesn’t work for me.”
Lottie impressed with her showstopper jiggle cake[/caption]A number of fans flocked to comment after being left gob-smacked at Paul’s hatred towards the pickle.
One wrote: “I love a gherkin! But I don’t think they should have to change their recipe to suit Paul.”
Another posted: “It’s unacceptable that bakers felt pressured into catering for Paul. It’s ridiculous because that takes away from the original idea of the bake.”
One fan fumed: “Did think it was a bit of a cheek to say he didn’t want Lottie’s relish on his one cause he doesn’t like gherkins and then had the nerve to criticise it for being dry.”
Mark’s avocado cake was called ‘inedible’ by Paul[/caption]Another fan tweeted: “Paul can’t ask for identical items and then get a special one just for him.”
But not all fans were appalled by Paul’s confession, some shared an equal dislike for the fruit.
Another fan joked: “Didn’t think Paul Hollywood could get any hotter but finding out he doesn’t like gherkins has made this happen!!!”
A second added: “I can’t stand them, I’m with Paul on this one.”
The contestants pulled out all the stops for Japanese week[/caption]Lottie was named star baker after an impressive showing in week six.
But there were tears galore after popular contestant Mark Lutton was axed following a disastrous showstopper that Paul Hollywood said came close to being inedible.
Meanwhile, the show’s first Japanese themed week didn’t go down well as unhappy viewers accused the programme of casual racism for “generalising Asian food”.
Many people flagged that not all the challenges were Japanese.
Steamed buns, or bao, are a Chinese dish, while Kawaii cakes are inspired by “cute” aspects of Japanese culture but aren’t an established part of Japanese cuisine.
Viewers voiced their disappointment, with one writing: “#JapaneseWeek on #GBBO is just shocking. @BritishBakeOff needs to be called out on their racism and cavalier colonialism.
Another posted: “Absolutely cringing at the casual racism/lack of understanding about the cultures of east Asia tonight on #GBBO.”
A third complained: “Come on #gbbo stop pretending this is Japanese week. Call it what it is – general Asian food week.”
This isn’t the first time the current series of Bake Off has been accused of racism.
Viewers slammed the show when its third BAME contestant was sent packing.
Two weeks ago, Sura was sent packing from the tent in Chocolate Week while Lottie was saved.
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Then in week two, Makbul was booted off despite fellow baker Rowan suffering three disastrous bakes.
In the show’s first week, Loriea’s over-flavoured food meant she was the first contestant eliminated – even though Linda’s Bob Marley showstopper was missing a mouth and eyes.