Nigerian chef Hilda Baci has finally been awarded the record for the world’s longest cooking marathon on Tuesday 13 June 2023.
The 26-year-old Nigerian chef began on Thursday 11 May and continued through to Monday 15 May, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.
Hilda attempted to set a record of 100 hours, however, almost seven hours were deducted from her final total because she mistakenly took extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt.
Hilda was required to abide by several rules during her record-breaking cook-a-thon:
- There must be at least two items being prepared or cooked at any time
- A sous-chef is permitted to assist in prep work, washing up, and cleaning the kitchen area, but all the cooking must be done by the individual attempting the record
One of the most important rules of our food-related record attempts is that all items must be consumed after cooking.
To this end, Hilda invited any and all members of the Nigerian public to come and eat her freshly made meals. All leftover food was donated to the Festus Fajemilo Foundation.
“My team’s and my goal for this event was to make it free to all and to feed the less privileged,” Hilda said.
According to Hilda, each pot of food she cooked was big enough to serve 30-35 people, and “appropriate stock control was conducted” to avoid any wastage of food.
