LAGOS (AFP) – A Nigerian chef has clinched the Guinness World Record for the longest solo cooking session after a marathon 93 hours and 11 minutes cooking nonstop on her feet, the organisation confirmed on Tuesday.
Hilda Baci, 26, who trained at the gym to stay on her feet for the four days needed to break the record last month, had said her May 11-15 bid was meant to help “put Nigerian cuisine on the map”.
“I want Nigerian recipes to be propagated across the world. You know, I want it to be a normal thing to make Egusi soup in an American home,” Baci told journalists after her attempt.
“I want you to be able to walk into any random supermarket and find Nigerian ingredients.”
Baci’s record attempt captured the attention of her home country at a time when many Nigerians are struggling with high inflation, fuel shortages and other economic woes.
While she was cooking several high-profile figures visited Baci including Lagos’ state governor, the country’s then vice president and Nigerian Afrobeats music star Tiwa Savage.
This is not Baci’s first success – she once hosted a television cooking show and represented Nigeria to win a regional cook-off competition to make the classic West African dish of spicy jollof rice.
Guinness World Records said in a statement: “Following a thorough review of all the evidence, Guinness World Records can now confirm that… Hilda Baci has now officially broken the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual).”
Guinness said she broke the previous record of 87 hours, 45 minutes set by an Indian chef in 2019.
