It’s Thanksgiving Day! While the holiday looks a little different this year, one thing remains true: We will stuff our faces with an incredible amount of food leaving leftovers to last us for days! It’s a time when everyone shows off their cooking and baking skills, but only some are lucky to spend the day with a true scholar of food: a member of the American Academy of Chefs honor society!

The American Academy of Chefs is the honor society within the American Culinary Federation, a professional chef’s organization founded in 1929, and “represents the highest standards of professionalism in the organization, society, and industry.” They state that their mission is “to promote the education of all culinarians by mentoring culinarians, awarding scholarships to students seeking a future in the culinary industry, and by providing grants to professional working chefs looking to further their career.”

AAC isn’t your typical honor society. It’s comprised of professional chefs, not students, across the country who are members of the American Culinary Federation. However, they do offer programs for culinary students looking to advance their skills.

As listed on their website, in order to qualify for membership, individuals:

1. Must be certified as an ACF master chef, master pastry chef, executive chef, executive pastry chef and/or culinary educator for no less than six years.
2. Must be in the culinary profession as a cook, working chef, or culinary educator at an accredited school for no less than 15 years; 10 of the 15 years must have been as an executive chef at a full-service operation.
3. Must be a professional member of the American Culinary Federation a minimum of 10 consecutive years.

ACF has over 14,000 members with 170 chapters across the US. You may see professional members of AAC (usually professors) on graduation day wearing red, white, and blue honor cords. 

Our team hopes you have a healthy and safe Thanksgiving holiday! What’s your favorite Thanksgiving Day dish? Let us know in the comments!