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Oct 4, 2023Liked by Nic Miller

Thank you for this. I have a science background and love baking as a way to relax, so am not a GBBO fan. I personally feel baking should be a joy, a way to share love with others, not a competition and certainly not a spectacle of humiliation (really, I do that to myself enough). This book sounds like all of things that I love - thank you Nic, and thank you Jürgen!

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I couldn't agree more

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Ordering this one now!

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I thought you might!

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I interviews Jurgen at Malvern Autumn and found him so fascinating, both on his subject but also as a person

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He sounds incredibly faceted x

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Wonderful! I’ve just ordered it. My daughter is currently au pairing near Freiburg, and I’m looking forward to making the things she has been trying there.

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I love this!

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I really enjoyed your sense that some books have a 'demeanour' as well as a 'voice'.

I was interested by what you were saying about mismatches between television persona and books put out off the back of those appearances. I was wondering if you had more thoughts on these translations and what makes them tick or tepid. Maybe you have written about this before - I will have a look.

I have done a little work editing similar people's recipes but there wasn't much time and a fair bit of fixing to do so I didn't go much into the demeanour etc and wish I had. I'd love to read more about this and do more myself.

I loved this instruction you quote, it sounds like the person Jürgen is coming through in the recipes themselves, which is fab:

begin with bicarbonate of soda whilst pretending you are using the more dangerous lye to practise safe handling and mise en place

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Oct 3, 2023·edited Oct 3, 2023Author

Thank you for this. You've given me a lot to think about which is great.

What I liked about this book is when I read it, I heard Jürgen's voice talking to me. The syntax and the way he guides readers through his recipes are so him. Had I not watched his series, I might not have picked up on this. This is an interesting point in itself because readers who don't know who Jürgen is risk missing out on this and it matters.

With regards to your point about editing other people's work, certainly when books are ghosted, edited or written in collaboration, they risk losing some of their demeanour if the ghost isn't skilled. And I imagine some publishers want a fairly straightforward cookbook which appeals to as many people as possible and iin these cases the editorial process might iron out quirky or very individual voices.

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Excellent article, thank you.

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Thank you!

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