BIRD STORY AGENCY
FROM her well-stocked wooden kitchen in Lagos State, Hilda Bassey Effiong, also known as Hilda Baci, embarked on a rare mission: cooking solidly for four days.
Donning a white blouse, blue headgear, and black kitchen overall, she began the ‘cook-a-thon’ – a creative name for her four-day cooking marathon aimed at breaking a world record.
With a glass wall that allowed natural light and stunning views of the outdoors, Baci entertained her viewers throughout the streamed event.
Before the competition, Baci shared her motivation for challenging and breaking the world record.
“The competition is an opportunity to tell some of the positive stories that come from Africa through the meals that we make,” she noted in a presser before the contest.
She envisaged This moment in 2019, but the Guinness Book of Records organisers asked her to put it on hold as the previous record had just been broken.
Five years later, she finally got approval and was ready to show the world her cutting-edge recipes, resilience and love for culinary in a rare challenge for her and thousands of fans.
True to her spirit, four days later, on Monday morning, she had surpassed the legendary Chef LataTondon of India’s 2019 world record of 87 hours and 45 minutes to become the new queen on the reins.
However, the cooking challenge was not a walk in the park. Ade Ibikunle, a Nigerian actor, explains that the rules that would make her record hold were extreme and made the contest even more challenging but fun to witness.
The 27-year-old “is not permitted to cook while seated, take coffee or stimulants. She is, however, allowed to have meals and drink water or fruit juice but cannot sleep,” he explained.
She was only allowed five minutes of rest for every hour and an extra 30 minutes after every 12 hours, most of which she spent at a health checkpoint.
Hundreds of viewers and cheerful onlookers flocked to the venue to witness the action as hundreds of others followed the cooking action online.
The cooking challenge was received with much support from Nigerians, with state and national leaders rooting for her to break the record.
President-elect Bola Tinubu took to Instagram to post a screenshot of Baci with the caption, “IDAN doesn’t break, she breaks records. We were rooting for you, Hilda.”
Other leaders, such as Lagos State Governor, Babjide Sanwo-Olu, made physical appearances at the venue to show their support.
From celebrities such as Tiwa Savage to ordinary fans, the venue was a networking, eating, and drinking spot for four days.
The food she cooked was served freely to those present, with projections showing she had prepared more than 100 Nigerian recipes by Monday morning when she passed the 88-hour mark.
The cooking enthusiast is, however, not new to breaking records in cooking competitions, having won the inaugural Jollof Faceoff competition in 2021.
But for her, the self-challenge is “proof of the strength young people can exhibit with the right platform and support.” The contest is reportedly supported by over 40 brands that availed different services.
African chefs have always been proud to showcase the diverse cuisines of the continent to the world.
From ranking highly in global cooking and food competitions to engaging in such extreme challenges, African chefs are showing the world the culinary side of the continent.
A past attempt by a Kenyan, Maliha Mohammed, in 2019, to break the Guinness record for the longest cooking individual at the Bay Beach Hotel lasted 75 hours and 3 minutes.
As the Guinness World Record undertakes “a review of the evidence before officially confirming her record”, she leaves the stage with pride for the great achievement.
