The chef broke the world record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual in May 2023.
Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci, is in a celebratory mood as this week marks the first anniversary of her cooking marathon that was recognised as a Guinness World Record in 2023.
Baci took to her Instagram account on May 12, 2024, to reminisce on the collective effort put into her attempt a year ago. In her excitement, she announced that the celebration of her record would stretch over a five-day period.
She began, “On this day one year ago we began the official attempt that made history.”
“At about 5 pm on the 12th of May, I turned on the gas for the very first time only to be turned off on the 17th of May 5 days later 😊 so yes we have a 5-day long anniversary and I’m here for it,” she added.
Whilst thanking the people who made her dream come true, the world record holder revealed that the cookathon attempt took a huge team of around 100 people.
“I could not have done it firstly without my team the alpha team, that was the first point of contact that helped my very big dream come true so naturally the first celebration point will be the Alpha team and heads of departments. I mean, it was such a big team of about 100 people to put the experience of the year together and I’m thankful for them every single day,” she concluded.
In May 2023, Hilda Baci cooked for over 100 hours, surpassing the previous record of 87 hours and 45 minutes set by Lata Tondon of India in 2019. During her attempt, she cooked hundreds of tasty meals which were served to the thousands of Nigerians who visited Amore Gardens in Lekki, in support of her feat.
Her attempt received widespread support from Nigerians both at home and abroad who cheered her on, on-site and online. She was also visited by celebrities, influencers, politicians and thousands of well-wishers until the very end of her attempt
In June, she was officially announced as the world record holder by the Guinness World Record, with her official record time pegged at 93 hours 11 minutes due to timing errors during her breaks. Later that month, she excitedly received her official certificate from the GRW body.
In November 2023, Alan Fisher, owner and chef of a Japanese restaurant, surpassed Baci’s record after cooking for 119 hours 57 minutes.
