It's Now Official: Hilda Baci Awarded With The Longest Cooking Marathon In The World -

After thoroughly examining all of the evidence, Guinness World Records has officially confirmed that Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, has broken the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual) with a time of 93 hours and 11 minutes. This makes Hilda Baci the current holder of the record.

The 26-year-old Nigerian chef began her four-day kitchen stint on Thursday, May 11, 2023, and continued through Monday, May 15. During that time, she prepared more than one hundred pots of food.

Hilda made an effort to break the previous record of 100 hours, but almost seven hours were taken out of her final total because she erroneously took extra time for one of her rest breaks early on.

The participant is allowed a five-minute rest break for every continuous hour of activity, as with all “longest marathon” records. If these breaks aren’t taken, they can add up. During the attempt, Hilda could only sleep or use the bathroom during these times.

In 2019, Indian Lata Tondon set the previous record, which stood at 87 hours and 45 minutes.

Hilda wanted 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 made sure she had everything she needed to make each recipe, and her team bought more food “based on what needed to be topped up” while the cook-a-thon was going on.

Millions of people in Nigeria and all over the world were able to follow Hilda’s progress through an Instagram live stream as she attempted to break the record for the most consecutive day.

Actually, Hilda’s cook-a-thon was so popular that Guinness World Records’ website crashed for two days because of all the traffic from her devoted fans.

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Hilda received support from a number of prominent Nigerian figures, including Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria; the state of Lagos, headed by Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu as governor; and Tiwa Savage, a multiple award winning singer.

During her record-breaking cook-a-thon, Hilda had to follow a number of rules:

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.

Hilda made the decision to pursue a career in the culinary industry after receiving a sociology degree from Madonna University in Nigeria. Her mother, Lynda Ndukwe, who is also a chef, was an influence on her.

Hilda hosted the television show “Dine on a Budget in 2020” and went on to win the Jollof Face-off contest in 2021. Hilda won the competition by defeating Leslie Kumordzie of Ghana, who was representing her native Nigeria.

She is now, in 2023, the official holder of the Guinness World Records title.