Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, is a Nigerian chef and restauranteur who has broken the world record for longest solo cooking marathon.
A Woman with a Goal
Hilda Baci initially scheduled for the marathon to last 96 hours. The marathon started on Thursday May 11th and ended on Monday May 15th. Hilda set her sights to break the record of Lata Thongdon, an Indian Chef who used 87 hours and 50 minutes to cook in 2019. Hilda Baci was not allowed to sleep during the marathon so she did not sleep for 4 days.
During these long 100 hours, Hilda was able to cook over 110 meals which includes a total of 35 side dishes, soups, cold dishes, and sauces. All of these were of mainly Nigerian cuisine, paying homage to her culture. The marathon took place at Lekki, Lagos State, Nigeria.
The chef said she wanted to beat the record in a bid to demonstrate how hard-working and determined young Nigerians are, and to highlight young African women who are side-lined in society. She also wanted to prove that the art of cooking is not mediocre.
Nationwide Support
During her 4-day cook-a-thon, locals and celebrities like the Nigerian singers Tiwa Savage and Burna Boy, cheered her on at the scene through day and night, many more monitored online via several streaming platforms. All these celebrities showed their support for Hilda which spurred her on to break the record.
Hilda’s original target was for over 96 hours and that alone would have been enough to break the record. The encouragement of her fans and members of the Nigerian public, however, spurred her on to continue the marathon for another 4 hours.
Hilda’s Goal Change
When asked why she changed her original target, she had the following to say: “What prompted us or prompted me to change the hours to 100? It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It was just my friends pretty much talked me into it and psyched me into it like, ‘you can actually do 100 hours.’”
Guinness World Records was not present but tweeted that they were aware of the chef’s ‘amazing’ attempt to break the cooking record and needed to review all evidence before confirming a record. They later confirmed Hilda breaking the record.
Hilda serves as an inspiration to not only young people in Nigeria but also the youth in Africa as a whole.