18/05/2023
10 Things You Didn't Know About Hilda Baci, The Nigerian Chef Who Just Broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Cooking Marathon
1 Hilda Bassey Effiong, professionally known as Hilda Baci, is a Nigerian chef from Akwa Ibom State. She owns a food brand in Lagos called "My Food by Hilda".
2 She is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for Longest Cooking Marathon, currently held by Indian chef Lata Tandon, who cooked for 87 hours and 45 minutes non-stop in 2019.
3 Hilda has been cooking since Thursday, May 11th and would finish her ordeal later today, Monday May 15th. Her target is 96 hours
4 She must stand to cook, she is not permitted to sit while cooking. She’s not allowed to take coffee, stimulants, or any energy drink to artificially boost her energy and bodily strength while cooking. She's allowed to eat food, drink water or fruit juice, and take glucose.
5 She cooks round the clock, no sleep (Morning, afternoon, evening, and night. So, for 4 nights, she won't sleep). She has just 5 minutes rest per hour [meaning for every 1 hour, she is entitled to just 5 minutes rest or break, that's an hour break in every 12 hours].
6 Hilda is 27 years old and comes from a 'food background'. Her mother is also a chef and owes a food brand called "Calabar Pot"
7 Many Nigerian celebrities have shown up at the venue to show support for Hilda including Nollywood actor, Charles Okocha; actress, Kate Henshaw; singer, Tiwa Savage; media personality, Enioluwa, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu among others. President-elect Tinubu, Peter Obi and many others have also shown their support via social media.
8 Hilda's cooking is taking place at Amore Gardens in Lekki, Lagos. She cooks different meals simultaneously and whatever she cooks is shared to the people at the venue for FREE. She has cooked close to 200 meals so far.
9 Hilda is not new to winning competitions. In 2021, she won a Jollof Face-off Competition, beating a Ghanaian chef to officially win the Jollof wars for Nigeria.
10 As at Monday morning, Hilda has cooked for over 87 hours and has now broken the current world record. She is aiming for a total of over 96 hours to make it harder for the next person to attempt to break her record.
