By Jayne Augoye
The Nigerian Jollof Queen, Hilda Baci, has surpassed the Guinness World Record for the longest cook-a-thon — a cooking marathon.
She surpassed the record on Monday morning.
Chef Lata Tondon initially held the record at 87 hours and 45 minutes in India in 2019; but the Nigerian chef blew past that record at 7:46 am on Monday, 15 May, clocking 87 hours and 46 minutes.
By Monday evening, Baci, who targeted a 96-hour cooking marathon, had spent over 96 hours showcasing her culinary skills, using various local and intercontinental recipes to put Nigeria on the global culinary map.
Over the last four days, the 27-year-old has made many delicacies from Nigerian cuisine, with over 110 meals.
She started cooking nonstop at 4 pm on Thursday, 11 May, and planned to keep cooking till 4 pm on Monday to reach her goal of 96 hours. She eventually surpassed the goal.
She now targets 100 hours, having cooked for 98 hours 30 minutes as at 6:30 pm on Monday.
The attempt also saw Baci take an hour-long break in-between every 12 hours of cooking.
The four-day cooking marathon featured celebrity visitations from Tiwa Savage, Banky and Adesua Wellington, Teni the entertainer, Spyro, Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu, networking, games and brand activations.
The cook-a-thon is an attempt by the actress and TV producer to show her culinary skills. She has been featured on various television cookery shows and represented Nigeria at the Jollof Faceoff Competition in 2021, emerging as the winner.
Though momentum started slow on Thursday, she has become a viral sensation with a massive wave of support from Nigerians.
Many people online have wished her well, and politicians and celebrities have called or stopped by to encourage her at the Amore Gardens location where she’s been cooking.
Although she has surpassed the initial record, the Guinness World Record tweeted on Monday that there will be a review of evidence of the process before her act is recorded.
