So the New York Times' Dining section wrote one of those things for Southern food yesterday that it writes for every type of food, at one point or another: How there's a new wave of chefs trying to revive traditional fare with more expensive and local ingredients, etc. "They want to reclaim the agrarian roots of Southern cooking," the Times writes, "restore its lost traditions and dignity, and if all goes according to plan, completely redefine American cuisine for a global audience." Again: This is a standard Times food article template with "Southern food" plugged in.

But according to the morning muppets on Fox News' illiterate dementia variety hour, Fox & Friends, it's a "HOITY-TOITY" New York Crimes war on Southern cooking and Paula Deen and the South in general! The Paper of Liberal Record "wants to eliminate classic southern cooking," they say, just straight-up. Here's the article's very offensive ending:

The quest for "real" Southern food isn't new: for decades, food historians and organizations like the Southern Foodways Alliance and Slow Food USA have mourned the extinction of treasures like beaten biscuits and cane syrup.

Today, purists believe, Southern cooking is too often represented by its worst elements: feedlot hams, cheap fried chicken and chains like Cracker Barrel.

"My mother didn't cook like that, and my grandmother didn't cook like that," Mr. DeFelice said. "And if you want to come down here and talk about shrimp and grits, well, we're tired of that, too. Southern cooking is a lot more interesting than people think."

Our hosts attribute all of these criticisms of Southern stereotypes to the Times' snooty editorializing, rather than the Southern chefs who are the subject of this article. It's strange. But in any event, go ahead and have your fun, Fox & Friends. You're right. The New York Times wants to nuke every Cracker Barrel in the South and Paula Deen's house and then all the people who live in the South, for bloodsport. It is true.

[h/t Politico]