UIYB with Jaime McAfee, World Certified Master Chef

From the tender age of 12, Jamie McAfee knew he wanted to be a chef. Throughout his childhood, he frequently helped his father prepare food, and his first successful dish (a creamy gravy for sausage and biscuits) cemented his passion for cooking. Jamie learned to cook from the African American women who worked in his parent's kitchen at the Delta Country Club, and on that foundation he built a culinary career of 50+ years. Since his youth, Chef McAfee has earned two culinary degrees and donned many hats. He worked in distribution at a Nike warehouse for five years, giving him the management experience that he would bring with him when he returned to professional cooking. He has passed on his wisdom as culinary professor at the University of Arkansas' Pulaski Tech and held positions as executive chef and general manager at several country clubs, where Jamie enjoys the challenge of organizing and cooking meals for several hundred people. His work ethic extends beyond food prep: McAfee considers it a serious duty to give back to the world, training the next generation of chefs and raising millions of dollars for Arkansas charities. Chef Jamie has many accolades to show for his hard work. He participated in the 2019 Diamond Chef competition held by the U of A and was entered into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame as "Proprietor of the Year" for 2023. In July of that same year, Jamie earned the title of World Certified Master Chef from the World Association of Chefs' Societies, a distinction that few can claim.