This Sunday, Julia Moskin’s article in the New York Times’ special section, 2006: The Year in Food, really stuck it to the chefs.  In “Food for the People, Whipped Up by the People,” she writes:

“It was the year the people took back the food. Expertise was out: the Food Network edged aside chefs like Mario Batali to make room for home-cooking queens like Paula Deen, Sandra Lee and Rachael Ray. The most popular new food magazines and cookbooks were collections of recipes from real home cooks (or those who pretended to be), often stamped with the irresistible words “home-style,” “country” and “everyday.””

Is Moskin’s article pointing to a rising anti-food-snob trend in America?  Or is the home chef simply getting more mainstream attention - not just as a easy-target for food marketers - but for their contributions to the culinary zeit geist?  The Food Network has worked miracles with regards to demystifying the kitchen and encouraging “everyday people” to cook more than canned soup.  In my own life, I often find myself scribbling down notes from the Food Network or consulting recipe-blogs like The Post Punk Kitchen as a I dream up my Shabbat menu.  But when Food Network superstars like Rachael Ray sign on as a spokesperson for Ritz Crackers, it leaves me wondering if all this “Food for and by the People” will simply result in a further dumbing down of America’s tastebuds.