The Great British Bake Off 2016

[Veltigar]

I'm surprised that there isn't a thread about this. What happened to you Entertainment subforum, you used to be cool! Luckily, I'm here to set things straight  

Anyway, I just thought this could use its own thread. The GBBA is still a phenomenon, since more than 10 million people tuned into the first episode last week ( a record for this series I have been told). It's a really strange thing, I'm not that into baking myself, but it's such a delightful little program, I can't help but like it. The Brits, despite their rather regrettable choices this past year, still haven't lost their knack for creating a really charming piece of television.

Any comments on the previous episode? Who is your favourite among this new batch of contestants? Personally, I like Selasi the most. He might be a banker, but he's a cool hand. I like how he doesn't really seem perturbed by the whole Bake Off circus. I hope he does well.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Veltigar

[HexMachina]

No baking pun or baking related innuendo in the title, I'm very disappointed in you Veltigar. 

I haven't had time to watch this series yet, I'll catch up once I'm back to my flat. I love the show though, really enjoy Mel and Sue's commentary and think Mary and Paul as judges are brilliant. The show's popularity probably stems from how it appeals to so many demographics; I know it's really popular among students, who typically might not watch a baking show. It still appealing to older people who usually watch that kind of thing. And (anecdotally) I understand that some families sit down together to watch it with their kids to try and encourage them to get into the kitchen. 

Anyway, I love the show. Also fun for drinking games, but that's another discussion

[Veltigar]

5 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

No baking pun or baking related innuendo in the title, I'm very disappointed in you Veltigar. 

 Mea Maxima culpa. If you have any suggestions, please do help poor Velti out, I couldn't think of any baking puns.

5 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

 I know it's really popular among students, who typically might not watch a baking show.

I know I typically wouldn't watch something like this. I can just about manage to bake a cake, but that's it. There is just something very charming about the program. The Dutch have their own version and it's okay, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original.

5 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Anyway, I love the show. Also fun for drinking games, but that's another discussion

I think not, please do share  

 

[DanteGabriel]

Mrs. Gabriel and I are big fans. For the record, we find the American version with Nia Vardalos nigh unwatchable, especially with the douchey male judge's gross innuendoes to Mary, who is a goddamn world treasure.

Are you Brits already getting a new season? The previous season (with Nadiya and Tamal) just aired a few weeks ago here. Lucky bastards.

[Veltigar]

8 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

Mrs. Gabriel and I are big fans. For the record, we find the American version with Nia Vardalos nigh unwatchable, especially with the douchey male judge's gross innuendoes to Mary, who is a goddamn world treasure.

I find most American cooking shows difficult to watch. I don't know why, but pretty much all of them are bereft of charm imo. As someone who isn't exactly Taillevent come again, I need the charm to make it work and the Brits have that in spade. The American cooking contest have more in common with reality tv than anything else.

11 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

Are you Brits already getting a new season? The previous season (with Nadiya and Tamal) just aired a few weeks ago here. Lucky bastards.

Nadiya already has her own cooking/travel program on here, which is broadcast right after the new episodes of TGBBO. So far, we're at episode two. Strange that it takes so long to air over the pond, it's not as thrilling if you can just go online and read the recaps to find out who the winner is. 

You should check it out online, that way we can keep this thread going with some nice discussion week-to-week  

[DanteGabriel]

29 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I find most American cooking shows difficult to watch. I don't know why, but pretty much all of them are bereft of charm imo. As someone who isn't exactly Taillevent come again, I need the charm to make it work and the Brits have that in spade. The American cooking contest have more in common with reality tv than anything else.

Nadiya already has her own cooking/travel program on here, which is broadcast right after the new episodes of TGBBO. So far, we're at episode two. Strange that it takes so long to air over the pond, it's not as thrilling if you can just go online and read the recaps to find out who the winner is. 

You should check it out online, that way we can keep this thread going with some nice discussion week-to-week  

I absolutely agree with you about American cooking shows, though I still cannot resist Top Chef. In general American reality TV shows tend to cast assholes, self-promoters, and narcissists who can supply drama and conflict. Which is why I'm such a fan of the humble, nice people they tend to cast on GBBO. I genuinely feel happy for someone like Nadiya when they win, or even just get a nice comment from Mary or a handshake from The Male Judge.

I'll try to find episodes online, but please don't feel like you can't discuss episodes just because I'm around. If I want to avoid spoilers I'll just avoid the thread. I've successfully avoided spoilers so far, even though the results have been public for months.

[Veltigar]

21 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

I absolutely agree with you about American cooking shows, though I still cannot resist Top Chef. In general American reality TV shows tend to cast assholes, self-promoters, and narcissists who can supply drama and conflict. Which is why I'm such a fan of the humble, nice people they tend to cast on GBBO. I genuinely feel happy for someone like Nadiya when they win, or even just get a nice comment from Mary or a handshake from The Male Judge.

Especially the self-promoters are annoying as hell. It seems like all the contestants on these type of shows have their own sob story to illicit some sympathy from viewers/judges. I can't stand them myself. It just seems so phony. 

48 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

 or a handshake from The Male Judge.

I know his name is Paul, but in my mind I always call him The Grey after that Liam Neeson movie. I don't know why, I just do

49 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

I'll try to find episodes online, but please don't feel like you can't discuss episodes just because I'm around. If I want to avoid spoilers I'll just avoid the thread. I've successfully avoided spoilers so far, even though the results have been public for months.

I'll turn this thread into a non-spoilerthread. We can still discuss episodes between spoilermarks. To be honest, I thought you Yanks got the new season almost straight away. I heard it was popular over the pond, so I figured BBC America or PBS would broadcast it pretty soon after it aired in the UK.  

 

[HexMachina]

6 hours ago, DanteGabriel said:

Mrs. Gabriel and I are big fans. For the record, we find the American version with Nia Vardalos nigh unwatchable, especially with the douchey male judge's gross innuendoes to Mary, who is a goddamn world treasure.

Are you Brits already getting a new season? The previous season (with Nadiya and Tamal) just aired a few weeks ago here. Lucky bastards.

I loved Nadiya, she was my favourite to win for a few weeks in advance. That series aired a year ago now (pretty sure she did the Queen's birthday cake or something).

Veltigar, I'm struggling for puns right now too. As for drinking games, easy, you just take a shot at every pun and innuendo. Doubles when Mary says "I can really taste the alcohol"

[DanteGabriel]

7 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I know his name is Paul, but in my mind I always call him The Grey after that Liam Neeson movie. I don't know why, I just do

I'll turn this thread into a non-spoilerthread. We can still discuss episodes between spoilermarks. To be honest, I thought you Yanks got the new season almost straight away. I heard it was popular over the pond, so I figured BBC America or PBS would broadcast it pretty soon after it aired in the UK.  

 

Mrs. Gabriel and I can't help but call him "The Male Judge" ever since a contestant referred to him that way a year or two ago. And "Paul Hollywood" sounds like a made-up name... 

I'm gobsmacked (did I use that right?) that there's such a long delay between British airings and American. It's also funny that PBS only seems to acknowledge three seasons of it in their listings. I appreciate the consideration re: spoiler tags, but I won't get bent out of shape if people don't use them. 

 

2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

I loved Nadiya, she was my favourite to win for a few weeks in advance. That series aired a year ago now (pretty sure she did the Queen's birthday cake or something).

Veltigar, I'm struggling for puns right now too. As for drinking games, easy, you just take a shot at every pun and innuendo. Doubles when Mary says "I can really taste the alcohol"

I was rooting for Nadiya a few weeks in advance too. And I really liked Tamal because his recipes were so creative and interesting. The nice thing about this show is that I've never seen someone I dislike and root against.

For drinking games, you have to have "a good bake" and "good layers." Maybe two drinks if Mary calls something "scrummy."

[all swedes are racist]

Oh man, I just discovered this show a few weeks ago, can't believe how hooked I am. Like DG said, I think it's because there is no one to not like; its like a charming comfortable oasis in a world of screeching bullshit. Just pleasant.

15 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

No baking pun or baking related innuendo in the title, I'm very disappointed in you Veltigar. 

Hold on, I'll be right back

[all swedes are racist]

Great British Bake Off: "And if thou gaze long into the oven..."

"Do you even sift, bro?"

"Kneadful things"

"The Bun Also Rises"

And for the Bakker thread: "GBBO- Layers upon layers of spongy revelation"

Damn. This is harder than I thought. Need a few more drinks in me

Edited September 2, 2016 by R'hllors Red Lobster

[polishgenius]

I should watch this, on the basis that I give every big reality show at least one season's try, but Strictly starts in a month or so and I just ain't got time to be catching up on both once it does. Sorry.

Does it always air this time of year?

 

Masterchef, especially the professional version, is my cooking reality show of choice (the British version, of course, what I've seen of the US Masterchef is terrifying).

Edited September 2, 2016 by polishgenius

[Veltigar]

8 hours ago, polishgenius said:

I should watch this, on the basis that I give every big reality show at least one season's try, but Strictly starts in a month or so and I just ain't got time to be catching up on both once it does. Sorry.

It's a lot better than Strictly come dancing  

8 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Does it always air this time of year?

I'm a rather recent convert, so someone else will have to answer this one

8 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Masterchef, especially the professional version, is my cooking reality show of choice (the British version, of course, what I've seen of the US Masterchef is terrifying).

Greg Wallace is a national treasure  

19 hours ago, R'hllors Red Lobster said:

Great British Bake Off: "And if thou gaze long into the oven..."

"Do you even sift, bro?"

"Kneadful things"

"The Bun Also Rises"

And for the Bakker thread: "GBBO- Layers upon layers of spongy revelation"

Damn. This is harder than I thought. Need a few more drinks in me

A lot more  You should play @HelenaExMachina's drinking game. I suspect it's the reason why the Brits excell at both puns and binge drinking  

[HexMachina]

9 hours ago, polishgenius said:

I should watch this, on the basis that I give every big reality show at least one season's try, but Strictly starts in a month or so and I just ain't got time to be catching up on both once it does. Sorry.

Does it always air this time of year?

 

Masterchef, especially the professional version, is my cooking reality show of choice (the British version, of course, what I've seen of the US Masterchef is terrifying).

Yep it's been this time of year quite a while now I believe. It's a mid-week show where strictly is a Saturday night though, so get baking already.

I dont actually watch strictly, so I'm just going to go ahead and assume Bake off is superior.

I love a bit of Masterchef. The only one other then the UK one I ever watched is e Australian version, but I got really confused as to how people were eliminated and stuff. I've not seen Masterchef for a few years now though.

@Veltigar, the drinking game isn't every week I hope you realise. Bake off calls for one of two things, depending on the mood; drinking games, or a good cup of tea and biscuits. 

[polishgenius]

1 minute ago, HelenaExMachina said:

@Veltigar Nothing, I just can't delete the tag from the quote. .

Yep it's been this time of year quite a while now I believe. It's a mid-week show where strictly is a Saturday night though, so get baking already.

Yeah, but I don't usually watch much of anything in midweeks so I do my catching up at weekends. And I also watch a lot of sport and, you know, do other things. So...


I see that this year it's a little later than usual because of the Olympics, so I might reserve a slot for next year when the overlap is only a few weeks.



ps: Strictly can be annoying but I love it.

[Raja]

Going to check this out, if only because one of my favourite podcast is covering the first two episodes. Re: Cooking shows - American Top Chef is where it's at! 

The American masterchef is awful. 

[Slick Mongoose]

I'll be cheering on the contestant who referenced Dune in the last episode. Legend.

[Raja]

Literally listening to all my cooking now. Val has taught me so much. 

[Veltigar]

Bread week was rather intense. One thing that always baffles me is the amount of cinamon those crazy Britons put in everything. As someone who's not a fan of that particular flavour, it's a pretty big turn-off. All in all it was a nice challenge. I like that Bake-off makes time for such an essential staple. Of course we get the fancy version of bread, but it's still a nice change from all the deserts and calorie bombs.

I hope it will inspire a lot more people to try and make some bread at home, because we need more "fresh" bakeries in our life. As an aside, I don't know if 'fresh bakery' is the correct term. In my native tongue, we refer to a 'hot bakery' (a very literal translation) when we talk about a bakery where the bread is still freshly made instead of just getting dough from some industrial plant which is then backed in order to be sold to local customers. 

[HexMachina]

10 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Bread week was rather intense. One thing that always baffles me is the amount of cinamon those crazy Britons put in everything. As someone who's not a fan of that particular flavour, it's a pretty big turn-off. All in all it was a nice challenge. I like that Bake-off makes time for such an essential staple. Of course we get the fancy version of bread, but it's still a nice change from all the deserts and calorie bombs.

I hope it will inspire a lot more people to try and make some bread at home, because we need more "fresh" bakeries in our life. As an aside, I don't know if 'fresh bakery' is the correct term. In my native tongue, we refer to a 'hot bakery' (a very literal translation) when we talk about a bakery where the bread is still freshly made instead of just getting dough from some industrial plant which is then backed in order to be sold to local customers. 

I don't know if there is a term for it, but most people I know would call that a "proper" bakery and I'd know what they mean. 

I love making bread, and it doesn't take long at all (well...sort of, but a lot of that is leaving the bread to prove so you can get on with other stuff). It goes stale fairly quickly though, otherwise I'd make it more often.

I'm hoping Candice wins at the moment