Guinness World Record has confirmed Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci as a record holder for officially broken the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes.
The prestigious organization said Hilda Baci was confirmed a record holder after a thorough review of all the evidence, during the time she did the marathon.
AbaCityBlog reports that 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.
In a statement published on its website, Guinness World Record revealed that Hilda who attempted to set a record of 100 hours, however, lost about seven hours which were deducted from her final total because she mistakenly took extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt.
“As with all ‘longest marathon’ records, the participant is permitted a five-minute rest break for every continuous hour of activity. These rest breaks can be accumulated if not taken. They were the only times Hilda could use the bathroom or sleep during the attempt,” the platform said.
The previous record of 87 hours 45 minutes was set by Lata Tondon (India) in 2019.
Speaking to the press, Hilda said she attempted this record to “put Nigerian cuisine on the map” and “to inspire young African women to chase their dreams.”
“I also decided to break this record to truly push my limits and test my abilities,” she added.
Hilda prepared for the event by creating a 35-item menu “as a guide” for every meal that she would cook.
She ensured that she had the necessary ingredients to make each recipe, with her team procuring further food items while the cook-a-thon was underway “based on what was needed to be topped up.”
Hilda’s record attempt took the world of social media by storm, with millions in Nigeria and beyond following her progress via an Instagram live stream.
Hilda’s cook-a-thon was in fact so popular that our website crashed for two days due to the immense volume of traffic we received from her legion of loyal fans.
Several high-profile Nigerian figures visited Hilda to support her during her record attempt, such as the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu; and award-winning singer Tiwa Savage.
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.
