Reaching Your Baking Point 

In Germany, to become a baker, you need to finish a three-year apprenticeship. If you pass the final exam, you can call yourself a journeyman. After several more years and another rather expensive exam, you can call yourself a master craftsman. You need at least a passed apprenticeship to be allowed to open a bakery and must be a master craftsman to offer apprenticeship.

I always liked working with food and have a knack for baking, so I decided to either become a cook or baker. I pass my exam as a baker as best of my class but I discover during my apprenticeship that I suffer from such severe skin sensitivities that I cannot work with flour and dough on a daily basis.

Also, due to the rapidly declining respect for blue-collar jobs, I find myself unwilling to endure the horrible working conditions bakers, cooks, and other labourers have to endure. So, I finish further education and enter a white-collar career.

Still, I love to bake and often bring my very professionally made baked goods to parties, potlucks, and other events. These are the silliest reactions and dialogues I have gotten as a reaction.

Guest: “Hmmm! This bread is delicious. And it looks good! Is it homemade or from a real baker?”

Me: “Yes.”

When I give some of my recipes after people asked for them:

Colleague: “Oh, my, your cake looked so good and had such a great taste! I tried your recipe recently and it didn’t work at all. What brand of [random ingredient] do you use?”

Me: “Well, mostly [Generic Brand].”

Colleague: “That can’t be; that’s just cheap trash! I used [Overpriced Stuff with unnecessary additives] that’s much better!”

Or, if a special brand has to be used:

Colleague: “No, no, no, that can’t be so important. All kinds of [ingredient] are the same! That’s just an overpriced brand!”

Finally, my favourite comment:

Acquaintance: “Uh, a certification as a baker? Who needs that? Everyone can bake. You just need to throw stuff together. They should just scrap all that nonsense and let everyone just open a bakery if they want to. You learn all that stuff in passing.”

No, dear people, that’s not how it works and many really can’t.