Rachael has gone out of her way to make sure people know she's not a chef. I've heard her say it at least 10 times, including when she competed on Iron Chef. She mostly cooks from scratch except when the confines of her show (30 Minute Meals) makes it impossible to do so. I'm someone who relishes spending all day cooking and am not looking for short cuts but for the busy mom of three her recipes have proved invaluable to get fresh, healthy meals on the table quickly.

Paula has never claimed to be a chef. She's just a Southern cook. She may be annoying but her TV personality isn't fake. Cameron Crowe put her in one of his movies as a motherly Southern cook type because she was basically playing herself.

I have nothing good to say about Sandra except that of course she uses box mixes being that her show's called "Semi-Homemade". Believe it or not, there is a niche for her kind of cooking otherwise she would have been pulled ages ago.

But, you're right, I suspect that Bourdain is critical of these people more because their personalities annoy him than anything else.