Guinness World Records (GWR) has confirmed Nigerian chef, Hilda Bassey aka Hilda Baci as the new record holder for longest cooking marathon by an individual.
An official adjudicator of the Guinness World Records, Mark Mckinley, announced Baci’s confirmation in a video on Tuesday. The official also posed with Baci’s certificate while the GWR followed the video with an official statement.
“Following a thorough review of all the evidence, Guinness World Records can now confirm that Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, has officially broken the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes,” GWR said in a statement released on Tuesday, one month after Baci’s adventurous cooking.
According to GWR, Baci 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.
“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 statement partly read,
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.
After graduating from Madonna University, Nigeria, with a degree in sociology, Hilda decided to embark on her culinary career. She was inspired by her mother, Lynda Ndukwe, who is also a chef.
Hilda went from success to success, hosting television show Dine on a Budget in 2020, before winning the Jollof Face-off competition in 2021. Representing her native Nigeria, Hilda beat Ghana’s Leslie Kumordzie to claim the victory.
Now, in 2023, she is officially a Guinness World Records title holder. Congratulations, Hilda! We are proud of you.
