I’m well known among family, friends and acquaintances for being an enthusiastic baker, with end results to match. And like, I am sure, many other people in the UK, it has often been suggested that I enter GBBO. It’s very sweet of people to suggest it, and even sweeter that they think I would stand a real chance of getting as far as the show, but it’s something that’s not destined to happen.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not some sort of false modesty on my part, or a lack of self-confidence. I admit, most people who know me also know I hate having my picture taken, although I’m learning to be better about that now. I will also admit I’m not hugely keen to have TV cameras add another ten pounds to my already overweight frame. But this is not the reason I’ll be steering clear. No, the simple reason comes down to what got me baking in the first place: the simple fact that I can’t eat gluten.
I love watching the Great British Bake Off, and in many cases I think I could probably do as well without gluten as many of the contestants do with it, but there are some things I simply cannot do. The blind challenges in particular would be impossible for me as I would doubtless end up being ‘glutened’ either by inhalation or from the simple need to check flavouring. Paul Hollywood’s focaccia? Would love to, but I don’t think it’s worth risking my health to get there.
Would I enter if the Beeb did a gluten-free version of GBBO? I would indeed, but the chances of them ever doing that are probably fairly slim. I do find this frustrating. After all, increasing numbers of people are having to exclude gluten from their diet because of either coeliac disease or intolerance, and yet you’ll see very little about gluten-free cooking on TV. I think the best gluten-free bakers can hope for on that front is for series 3 to include one episode where the contestants have to bake exclusively gluten-free. It’s at least as much of a challenge as the perfect macaron, after all.
Anyway, back off the soapbox. For those of you that fancy entering, I believe they’re recruiting the next set of contestants now. In the meantime, if anyone from the BBC would like someone to set and judge a gluten-free challenge on GBBO, I’m right here 🙂
Suzzle Cakes 