Nigerian celebrity chef and Guinness World Record holder, Hilda Baci, has shed light on why she cooked 200 bags of rice instead of her earlier plan of 250 in her latest quest to set a new record for the world’s largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice.
The event, which kicked off Friday morning at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, turned into a festive gathering with music, dance, and appearances from public figures including Nollywood actress Funke Akindele, dancer Kaffy, and Ogun State First Lady, Bamidele Abiodun.
Baci told reporters at the venue that the adjustment was due to technical limits with the weighing equipment. “If you notice when we started we weighed the pot and we need to weigh every single thing that goes into the pot when we’re done. The goal was that by the time I was done making 5,000 kilogrammes I was hoping to achieve about 17,000 to 18,000 kilogrammes. Right now, if I include the weight of the pot, that’s about 20,000. The average crane and the measuring device can only weigh 20,000 kilogrammes. It’s safer for me to go below 20,000 kilogrammes so that my scale can carry it all at the same time and basically that is why I had to cut down on the quantity and I only cut it down by a thousand kilogrammes,” she explained.
According to her, the 200 bags of rice still produced 4,000 kilogrammes of food, enough to feed 20,000 people. “This 4,000 kilogrammes of rice is 200 bags of rice and it will still feed 20,000 people so we’re still up there,” she said.
The chef described the feat as the boldest of her career, pointing out that nearly a year of planning went into making it happen. “Honestly, Gino and I figuring this whole thing out was hectic. Figuring out how to fabricate the pots, it took Mr. Ayo two months to figure out and fabricate the pots. Then it took us about nine months to plan this event and it took us almost nine hours to make the entire meal,” she said.
Though stressful, Baci said the project was rewarding. “It was challenging but very exciting at the same time. We’re not done because we need to distribute the food and make sure that everybody that has come here eats to their satisfaction. So we’re still on it but so far I’m very happy, you know, with where we are and what we’ve been able to achieve today,” she added.
Interestingly, she revealed that the idea was not first conceived as a Guinness World Record bid but rather as a communal food experience. “When I came up with this idea, I did not think about it as a world record, quite frankly. I mean, have you looked around? There’s a lot of you. Some of you came with your cooler, so we need to make sure everybody’s fed. We’re feeding the nation,” she said.
The London-based Guinness World Record body also joined the conversation online, sharing a video from the event with the caption: “What’s cookin’? Best of luck to @hildabacicooks who’s attempting a new record for the largest serving of Nigerian style jollof rice today.”
The encouragement comes two years after Guinness certified Baci’s 2023 cook-a-thon, a milestone that earned her international fame and inspired young Nigerians to pursue careers in the culinary space.
