Shows like “Top Chef’’ leave a bad taste in Jacques Pepin’s mouth. The renowned French chef thinks reality TV cooking shows that pit people against one another do a “disservice’’ to the profession and promote a “fast food culture.’’

Pepin made the comment while he and chef Alice Waters were promoting the PBS documentary series “American Masters.’’ (Both Pepin and Waters are featured in the documentary series’s new season.) Waters, the owner of Chez Panisse in California, said the best cooking is “meditative,’’ not confrontational.

“It’s never about competition. It’s about the pleasure of dealing with real food,’’ she said.

Chef Jody Adams, who owns Saloniki, Trade, and Porto, doesn’t watch reality TV cooking shows, but she did appear on one — “Top Chef Masters’’ — in 2009. Adams understands what Waters and Pepin are saying about civility, but she thinks the public pays more — not less — attention to good food these days.

“At the end of the day, what happens in a restaurant like Porto or Chez Panisse has nothing to do with what happens on TV,’’ Adams said. “It’s all about respect for food and respect for each other and the goal is to create and produce a beautiful plate that makes people happy.’’

Oh, in case you’re wondering, Adams did not win “Top Chef Masters,’’ but she did raise a good amount of money for charity — Partners in Health — on the show. So there’s that.