Nigerian chef and GWR holder Hilda Baci has broken the world record for cooking the largest ever pot of Jollof Rice in Lagos last week.
The record, which was achieved in partnership with Gino on Friday in Victoria Island, Lagos, has been officially confirmed by Guinness World Records.
Announcing the feat on Monday on X (Formerly Twitter), GWR wrote, “New record: Largest serving of Nigerian style Jollof Rice – 8,780 kg (19,356 lb 9 oz) achieved by Hilda Baci and Gino in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria”
After nine hours of cooking, the effort was almost thrown into jeopardy after the giant pot used to make the dish broke as it was being hoisted onto a crane to be weighed – thankfully, none of the rice was spilled.
Ms Baci celebrated the triumph by thanking her team and supporters: “This moment isn’t just mine… it belongs to all of us.”
Baci paid tribute to the “tireless team” that made the achievement possible and shared a video of her reacting to the news on social media.
“We made history together, for Nigeria, for Africa, and for everyone who believes in the power of food to bring us closer – this win is yours too”
Hilda Baci
“This Guinness World Record was built on unity, love, and collective strength,” she wrote.
Last week, thousands of people had gathered to watch Baci’s latest world record bid – in 2023 she held the title for the longest cooking marathon at nearly four days.
Their support was well rewarded as the mammoth dish later divided into individual portions and distributed to the huge crowd and passersby.
She was assisted by 10 other chefs in red uniforms wielding long wooden spoons to stir the food.
Many Nigerian top celebrities, including Funke Akindele, Veekee James, Tomike Adeoye, Peller, Enioluwa, Tacha, and BamBam were also in attendance to show their support for Baci.
Manufacturing the giant steel vessel to hold her dish took a team of 300 people two months to make but one of its legs gave way at the crucial time. The whole event took 9 months to plan according to the world recorder holder, Hilda Baci.
Estimate for the Jollof Rice ingredients:
- 4,000 kg of rice – 200 bags of rice
- Ova 1200kg of tomato paste – 500 cartons of tomato pastes
- Lots of seasoning cubes
- 600kg of onions
- 6000kg of water
- 168kg of goat meat
- 700kg of oil
Baci won a competition for her version of Jollof Rice in 2021, and then became a national sensation in 2023 when she claimed the World Cooking Marathon Record – an exhausting 93 hours and 11 minutes.
However, she was later surpassed by Irish chef Alan Fisher. The current record-holder is Evette Quoibia from Australia, with 140 hours and 11 minutes, according to GWR.
Hilda Baci is a graduate of Sociology from Madonna University, Nigeria.
