Q&A with Paul Hollywood of “The Great British Baking Show”
This Q&A, excerpted here with an introduction by Yankee Senior Food Editor Amy Traverso, can be listened to in full on the podcast hosted by Amy Traverso and David Leite, “Talking with My Mouth Full.” If I try to describe how much I love The Great British Bake-Off (or, as it’s known in the United States, The […]
Paul Hollywood, the “Mr. Blue-Eyes” of the British Bake Off
Photo Credit : Photo by Haarala Hamilton, courtesy of Bloomsbury
This Q&A, excerpted here with an introduction by Yankee Senior Food Editor Amy Traverso, can be listened to in full on the podcast hosted by Amy Traverso and David Leite, “Talking with My Mouth Full.”
If I try to describe how much I love The Great British Bake-Off(or, as it’s known in the United States, The Great British Baking Show), I risk sounding unhinged. But so be it.
I adore this show. It is the viewing equivalent of a warm bath with lavender-scented bubbles, a cup of tea, and a fluffy towel waiting on a heated rack. It restores my faith in people (Imagine, watching regular people being brave and generous on television!). It makes me want to bake. It teaches me new techniques and skills. It inspires me to cook for others. It makes me want to move to England. It reminds me of all the wonderful New England regional sweets that we are lucky enough to call our own (because who am I kidding? This is home). Perhaps you feel the same way.
Paul Hollywood, the “Mr. Blue-Eyes” of the British Bake Off Photo Credit : Photo by Haarala Hamilton, courtesy of Bloomsbury
Then I learned that Paul Hollywood, that steely-eyed, truth-teller of a Bake-Off judge with the world’s most coveted hand-shake was going to be a guest on Talking with My Mouth Full, the podcast that I’ve recently begun hosting with my friend David Leite, of Leite’s Culinaria. He was in the U.S. to promote his eleventh book, BAKE: My Best Ever Recipes for the Classics. A chance to ask Paul Hollywood all the burning questions I’ve had since Day One? Where to start?
In Hollywood’s latest book, he updates his favorite classic recipes. Photo Credit : Photo by Haarala Hamilton, courtesy of Bloomsbury
But first, let’s set aside the most obvious question: Paul Hollywood is actually a nice guy. An affable, laid-back, easy-to-talk-to person. As you’ll see below, he understands his “pantomime villain” role on The Great British Bake-Off and he plays it with humor. But that’s a character shaped, in part, in the editing suite. So if that’s the one thing that’s stopping you from trying out for The Great American Baking Show, which will premiere later this year on Roku, don’t let it stop you. We need great New England bakers to represent!
The following is an excerpt of our conversation with Paul, edited for brevity.
A Conversation with Paul Hollywood of “The Great British Baking Show”
Amy: So everybody talks about the intimidating “Hollywood stare” and that you’re the guy who everybody’s trying to impress and please. And yet, I’ve listened to interviews with you. You’re a warm, friendly person. So the Paul Hollywood of the show is not quite exactly your everyday self.Paul:You put it down to the editing. Because I think if they showed my real character in the tent, it’d come across as something slightly different. Yeah, I’m pretty straight when I’m giving a judgment on something…But, I think they’ve edited it to the point to make me the pantomime villain, which I’ve sort of embraced. I’ve given up fighting against it now. And I think anyone that’s in the tent who knows me, knows I’m not like that. I mean, I am a straight talker and I’ll tell you if it’s good or bad. And my language will probably come across as a bit choice…but then, I’m working with Dame Mary and Dame Pru. I can’t compete with the fact that they are Dames. And I’m just this Northern bit of rough. Yes. I’m a harsh critic, but ultimately it comes down to the finished product. It would always be my belief that they want to be better bakers, which is what I expect them to be. I want them to be professionals. And when they do create something that is that good, I get really excited. That’s when I do shake their hand. Cause I think, ‘Oh wow. These are brilliant! About time!’Amy: I do think this show is it’s like a tonic for what ails the world. And I know that that’s very grandiose to say, but it’s like medicine. And I know the deep emotional connection that people have to it. How do you explain it?Paul: I think it’s sustenance through your stomach. You’re dealing in bakes that are nostalgic bakes from when you were a child. And then I think, from the American point of view, it’s what they’d like to think Britain is like. So you have a white tent and beautiful scenery with a stately British home, and bunting all over the place, and cakes. It’s very ‘classic British village fete.’ It’s something I remember from growing up and I think we’ve sort of harnessed that and put it into a competition.”David: I think what’s fascinating is the show hasn’t changed that much since when Edd Kimber won season one.Paul: Yeah. My shirts have changed [laughs]. My shirts were awful. I remember wearing paisley and a couple of really odd numbers. I hate looking back at that, but I mean, my hair’s grown much whiter since I’ve been doing Bake Off. I can’t start darkening my hair now. Every year I’m turning more into father Christmas.
Amy: So you are known for your TV work, but you really have an extensive history in restaurant kitchens. Tell us how you got from there to here.Paul: I used to work for my dad in his bakery. He a chain of 15, 16 bread shops and cake shops up and down the east coast of the country. And I worked there, learned my trade, and then I ended up working for the Duke of Westminster who owned the Chester Grosvenor Hotel. I sandwiched that with time at the Dorchester Hotel in London. And then from there I worked in Cyprus for six years. When I came back, I was starting to ask to do a few TV bits as a professional. So I went on a couple of things. They said I was alright and I started doing a few more. And then eight years after that, I was approached to join the great produce bakeoff and that was it.
Amy: How palpable is the tension in the tent during like a signature technical. And have you become immune to it at this point? Paul:I’ve normally got my feet up in a hammock. If I were any more laid back, I’d fall over. But Bake Off, because it’s been around for a while, it has created in [the contestants’] minds this thing, almost like a cult. It’s the tent. And then to be in it and meet all the hosts and the judges…it’s overwhelming for some people. I’ll often just sit down with them for five minutes, have a chat, talk about where they’re from and then say “Right, you’re alright now?” and they go “Yeah. It’s great.” “Ok now go on then, carry on.”David: How do you think a 21- or 22-year old Paul Hollywood would have fared in the Bake Off?Paul: I probably wouldn’t have entered in the first place. I was painfully shy. I mean, I couldn’t do it. I mean the pull now…there’s always two sides to me. There’s the guy that everybody sees on the telly and then there’s the real me. This is the real me, that sort of shies away from all that sort of stuff.Amy: I have this fantasy that you guys all hang out when you’re not in the tent filming. Is that true? Or like, are you all at the pub having a drink at the end of the day?Paul: We do. I mean, we do have a drink. Normally the hotel’s not far from the tent, so we will go back and have dinner together.
David: What are the most common mistakes contestants on the bakeoff make?Paul: It’s the timing. They always get the timing wrong. You’ve got to work backwards: ‘How much time have I got for this challenge? Two hours? Then you’ve gotta think, “What have I got to bake in two hours?” You’ve gonna make a sponge. How long do you have to bake and cool it before you can decorate it? And once you have a plan of when things have to go in the oven and when things have to go out, then you’re okay. If you divert from that plan, then you’re in trouble.
David: What is it about bread that is so special and, and comforting for you?Paul: It’s because it’s harder to make. You’ve got to manipulate it. You’ve got to look after the yeast. It’s a living thing. You’ve got to grow it in a certain environment. You’ve got to tighten it up. You’ve got to get the bubble structure, right. The crumb, the caramelization. And so it’s a real skill to get it done properly. And to be able to do that at home, which I do a lot for sandwiches or for toast, is just something which is a real challenge for me. That’s why I love it.
Amy: Your new book, Baked, is about the classics. If somebody wants to learn to bake and they haven’t really done much before, what curriculum would you recommend? What should they start with? Paul: You’ve got to start with a white bread, just a tin bread. And the beauty of a tin bread is there’s only one way it can go, and it’s straight up. So that’s almost foolproof. Banana bread is something everybody was doing during lockdown and and it’s all about the cream method. It’s about keeping it light. It’s about the bake, it’s using your skewer. It’s very difficult to beat that with a cup of tea. Which…just I’m in heaven myself.
Are you a fan of the Great British Baking Show? Let us know in the comments below!
Food Editor Amy Traverso oversees the Yankee Magazine Food department and contributes to NewEngland.com. Amy's book, The Apple Lover's Cookbook (W.W. Norton), won an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) cookbook award for the category American.
