According to
several sources the etymology of the words "chef" comes from "chief" (head, leader) in old French... but that only reaches the 14th century and the relationship to the equivalent Latin word "caput" doesn't seem very clear to me, so there might some connection there.
But, honestly, I doubt it. Because, at that time, people didn't have the means to share that kind of knowledge (even the name of spices changed drastically through the Silk Road).