For Pepin, cooking is about technique, not stardom

"I'm sure a lot of people say my shows are really boring," Pepin says. "But you can't escape yourself. I'm not an actor. I am who I am. And I'm still teaching cooking. Which is what I do. It's good for me, it's no good for someone else."

This sense of authenticity, his devotion not to his own stardom, but to the food and the food alone, is what has kept people watching Pepin. Even in this era of flash and glitz, his executives at San Francisco's KQED, which produces his shows, say his audience has remained steady and that he is more widely distributed and watched than Food Network peers.

"He's about sharing good food, demonstrating good technique and really educating the viewer," says Tina Salter, Pepin's producer at KQED, who notes that she usually has to drag him out of the kitchen to get him into makeup. "That's what separates him from everyone else. He's the consummate teacher."

So once again, Pepin is walking the line between two cultures, not French and American this time, but entertainment and education. And once again, say his supporters, he will bridge that gap. And secure a place with the next generation.

"He's a cook's cook," says Russ Parsons, food editor at The Los Angeles Times. "And that's not to belittle the Food Network because they're bringing people into the church. And when they become true believers, they'll find Jacques. And Jacques will be waiting."