RecipeTinEats’ Nagi Maehashi has revealed the name of another prominent author whom she alleged has also been plagiarised by baker and social media personality Brooke Bellamy in her best-selling book Bake with Brooki.
In an interview with Good Food, Maehashi shared that she believed that Brooke allegedly plagiarised the late Bill Granger‘s recipe for Portuguese tarts. The claims come after whispers on social media arose that the Portuguese tart recipe in Bake with Brooki was remarkably close to a recipe found in the 2006 cookbook Every Day.
Maehashi believes it was one of the “biggest and strongest” examples of alleged plagiarism by the Brooki’s Bakehouse owner.
“It is so blatant to me that the wording in the method part of the recipe is copied almost exactly. To me, it is the biggest and strongest example of plagiarism that I have seen by this author,” Maehashi told Good Food.
“I was so shocked when I saw it. Bill is an icon of the Australian food scene. When I became aware of it, I knew that including it in my statement would make it stronger, but I left it out at the request of Bill’s family.”
Jane Morrow, the Publishing Director of Murdoch Books, which published Granger’s cookbook, says the company is “aware of the allegations of plagiarism involving the uncredited use of a recipe by Bill Granger”.
“We take any suggestion that his work has been reproduced without acknowledgement seriously. We are currently reviewing the concerns raised,” she said.
Although Maehashi was the first author to come out with plagiarism allegations against Bellamy, US-based baker Sally McKeeney claimed that Bellamy copied her recipe for “The Best Vanilla Cake I’ve Ever Had” published in her own book Sally’s Baking 101 in 2019.
McKeeney alleged that Bellamy not only published it in Bake with Brooki but also shared the recipe on YouTube.
Meanwhile, Bellamy firmly denies the allegations.
“The past 24 hours have been extremely overwhelming. I have had media outside my home and business, and have been attacked online. It has been deeply distressing for my colleagues and my young family,” reads a statement via her crisis PR team at Wilkinson Butler.
“I do not copy other people’s recipes. Like many bakers, I draw inspiration from the classics, but the creations you see at Brooki Bakehouse reflect my own experience, taste, and passion for baking, born of countless hours of my childhood spent in my home kitchen with Mum.”
“While baking has leeway for creativity, much of it is a precise science and is necessarily formulaic. Many recipes are bound to share common steps and measures: if they don’t, they simply don’t work,” the statement continued.
“My priority right now is to ensure the welfare of the fantastic team at Brooki Bakehouse and that of my family.”
Maehashi has since made a video asking people to remain civil and kind towards Bellamy after watching an influx of hateful messages.
No matter what your opinion is of this baking saga, please let this serve as a reminder that sending hate messages is never okay.
PEDESTRIAN.TV does not suggest the allegations of plagiarism or copyright infringement are true, only that they have been made.
