Guinness World Record Officially Crowns Nigerian Chef Hilda Baci
The month long decision has been well celebrated as the 27-year-old now holds the title for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
Guinness World Records has finally crowned Nigerian Chef Hilda Baci for her record-breaking cook-a-thon, hosted last month. The 27-year-old chef now holds the title for the longest cooking marathon by an individual after spending around 100 hours at the stove, surrounded by friendly faces and supporters. According to the globally recognized reference book filled with impressive human accomplishments, Baci's official time was 93 hours and 11 minutes, breaking the previously held record of 87 hours and 45 minutes by Indian chef Lata Tondon in 2019.
Nigerian Baci held a four-day residence at Lekki's Amore Gardens -- the young chef cooked nonstop from Thursday, May 11 to Monday, May 15. At the conclusion of her escapade, Baci prepared 100 pots of food in total. Initially, Baci's record time was set at close to 100 straight hours, however, after the Guinness Book of Records' team reviewed all of the footage, close to seven hours were subtracted from the total because "she mistakenly took extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt," their official statement read. According to the governing body, longest marathon contenders are allotted five-minute breaks for every continuous hour of activity -- with the option to accumulate the time and not take them -- and it's here where Baci, unfortunately, missed the mark. However, in the grand scheme of things, understanding the rules and regulations only makes Baci's accomplishment that much more exemplary.
Guinness World Records officially crowns Hilda Effiong Bassey aka Hilda Baci
Earlier this month, the awe-inspiring culinary whiz told TV3 Ghana that she also happened to be experiencing her period during the marathon, because what can't women do? Speaking on the platform Baci shared, "I was on my period the entire time and that made it extremely difficult and extra hard. What that meant was it took away from the time that I had to rest. [...] My dad was worried because I have horrible cramps. Like really horrible cramps. So pushing through that means I can conquer things in this life." Ignorant social media users were quick to display their lack of logic as some argued that Baci shouldn't have offered people "unhygienic" food. Baci explained, "I was trying to rack up [time] because I get 5 minutes every time I completed 1 hour. And I still had to do my medical checks. God bless my medical team, they were on the ground. Because I was on my period I had to take a shower every single break I had. If I had 30 minutes I had to take a shower in that time because I had to change."
Speaking to the Guinness Book of Records, Baci shared her intention for breaking the record was to, "put Nigerian cuisine on the map" and to "inspire young African women to chase their dreams". Most importantly, "I also decided to break this record to truly push my limits and test my abilities," she shared.
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